Iron Ikari
by gunman
Summary: Shinji becomes the new Iron Man when he gets teleported to Stark Enterprises and collides with the playboy inventor, gaining not only knowledge but years to his life. Chapter 4 now uploaded!
1. Iron Man Vs Whip Man

_**IRON IKARI  
**_By Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Eva or Iron Man 2, or it's characters.

Summery: Shinji Ikari is the new Iron Man, and must help his boss, Tony Stark, protect the world from evil, even as he tries to keep the greatest secret in the world: he has Stark's knowledge!

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Mission 1  
**Iron Man Vs Whip Man**

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(The Monaco Historic Grand Prix raceway)

Tony Stark, famed inventor and the publically admitted hero known as Iron Man, sped through the tunnel of the race track, accelerating through the sharp twists and turns as he began taking the lead over his fellow drivers. He tried to steady his heart rate even as he moved down the speedway.

_Come on, arc reactor, keep those pieces of shrapnel from reaching my heart_. He thought as he slid around the turn.... right as his eyes widened.

More than halfway down the track, a muscular man with long salt and pepper hair was walking out onto the track, his orange jumpsuit removed from the upper half of his body. But what caught Tony's eye, apart from the glowing energy whips attached to the man's wrists, was the strange erector-set device wrapped around his arms and torso.... and a glowing sphere-like device in his chest that looked oddly familiar.

_An arc unit? What in hell..._ he gasped as a pair of long whips suddenly shot out from the frames on the wrists and flayed around wildly, right before they started glowing with a white-hot intensity.

"Time to make god bleed." the man hissed as Stark continued to accelerate towards him, right as the 2,700 degree Celsius right whip lashed out and struck the front of Tony's Formula-One racer. The impact was reminiscent of Luke Skywalker cutting off the front end of the speeder bike's nose with his lightsaber on Endor before the white-suited pilot crashed into a tree.

The only difference is that Tony Stark would live. The same could not be said for the other racers tearing down the speedway who had spun out and crashed to avoid the man, or who had been the first to taste his whips before Stark arrived.

From the Bar American, Pepper Potts gasped as she noticed what was going on down on the track. She looked around frantically for her companion and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he was gone.

Back on the track, Stark was slowly climbing out of his wrecked race car as the whip-wielding man slowly walked down the track, grinning like an approaching predator who had just injured his prey. He was actually enjoying the moment as he made his way to Stark, his whips crackling with energy on the race track.

But in the time it took for the Whip Man to march on Stark, a young Japanese man of about 20 years old had raced out onto the track and into the Stark Pit Stop.

"I hope this works." he said as he set down a red and silver suitcase and punched in a code on the pad next to its handle.

The suitcase chirped its acceptance as it mechanically opened up, revealing itself to be empty. That didn't stop the young man as he placed his feet inside the bootsoles, before placing his hands inside a set of handgrips in the middle of the case, and lifted the device up towards his torso. The suitcase segmented, still attached to itself, as it began forming around the young man. Silver and red titanium plates began forming over his feet and legs as the chest and arms followed.

It was obvious that in the chaos he wasn't being noticed. Which suited him just fine as the silver faceplate came down over his brown-haired, blue-eyed features, wrapping him in a tight cocoon of circuits and metal.

The Whip Man continued to advance towards the injured Tony Stark even as the inventor got to his feet and started down the track.

"Run little rabbit, run." he cackled as he advanced towards the slightly limping inventor.

However, Stark suddenly stopped running and turned to face the man. This alone caused Whip Man to pause in confusion.

"Have you decided to meet your fate?' the Whip Man said with a thick Russian drawl.

"Sooner than you think. However, I do have a question for you." Stark said.

"And what would that be?" the man asked curiously.

"Would you turn around and look behind you?" Stark asked.

The Whip Man started to chuckle, thinking that it was a crude attempt to distract him so that Stark could run away. His laughter stopped, when he heard the metallic crunching of someone walking up to him from behind.

His brow creased as he turned around. His eyebrows raised up as he saw a man, dressed in what looked like polished red and silver armor. Iron Man armor.

_What? But Stark is Iron Man!_ The Whip Man gasped. _When did he hire a bodyguard?_

"Step Away From The Inventor!" Iron Man said.

Stark actually looked at the armored man with a mixture of admiration and mortification.

"Note to self: teach the kid better heroic catchphrases." he muttered to himself.

"And who are you?" The Whip Man asked. "Another American lapdog to serve the Pig known as Tony Stark?"

"Actually... I'm Not American." the armored man said as he threw his hands forward, twin beams of energy fired from his palms. But not at Whip Man. The beams blasted the ground at the base of his feet, and sent the man flying up into the air and crashing into the ground next to one of the wrecked racers.

"Are You Alright, Mr Stark?" Iron Man asked as he ran up to the injured inventor.

"Been better. Where were you?" Stark asked.

"Suiting Up."

"How's The Mark V?" he asked, meaning the armor.

"Functioning Perfectly." he said. "Though It Does Feel... Light."

Tony looked over and saw that the Whip Man was getting up.

"About face, soldier." Stark said as Iron Man turned around and noticed the assailant coming towards them.

"Right." he said as he crouched down in a stance that looked like a football player about to run a scrimmage. In a second he took off and charged the man even as he lashed out with his energy whips towards the red and silver man.

Tony Stark watched as Iron Man raced toward the Whip Man, his fists thrown up to fire another repulsor blast at his foe. The blasts were deflected by the whips easily, energy striking energy, but that hadn't been the intention. He grinned as Iron Man leapt into the air and tackled the Whip Man to the ground. Tony had to admit that it was appropriate. The Mark V was a lighter armor than his precious Mark IV. It lacked missiles, a stronger repulsor system, stronger armor, and some of the other weapons than he had used in Gulmira more than a year ago. Still, it offered a considerable amount of protection and physical strength, so that was what the kid was using.

A furious tumbling of metal and flesh rolled over and over onto the raceway, eventually breaking apart as the two men turned to face each other.

"I Don't Know Who You Are, But This Ends Now." Iron Man said.

"For one of us." the Whip Man grinned as he brought his whips up again and started lashing out at Iron Man.

The first whip sparked across Iron Man's torso, coming dangerously close to his own chest RT as he cried out in pain. He whipped at him again and again, until finally Iron Man caught the whips with his arms. His left arm wrapped around the right whip, as the left whip wrapped around the right wrist.

"Oh No." Iron Man gasped as Whip Man suddenly pulled him off his feet and slammed him into the chain-link fence, before lifting him up and slamming him into another pile of wreckage from another racer.

The Whip Man laughed as he suddenly felt a tug on his whips.

"What?" he gasped as he suddenly felt himself pulled off his feet, and slam into the ground and back into Tony Stark's racer.

"Now..." Iron Man said as he rose up out of the wreckage, his left hand still with the whip wrapped around it. "...My Turn." he said as he pulled the whip and hurled the man around like he was a kite on a string caught in a maelstrom.

Finally, gripping the energy whip tightly, Iron Man yanked on the whip that was burning through the armor and into his skin, pulling the Whip Man to him, as he cocked his free arm back and brought it forward, slamming it against the man's face. The man crumbled to the ground in a mess of flesh and steel, his eyes closed to indicate he was unconscious.

Looking down at the mini reactor on the Whip Man's chest, Iron Man reached down, gripped it tight, and pulled it off with a metallic shattering that caused the man to jump. The energy whips powered down and became nothing more than limp cables as Iron Man looked at the device in his hand.

If his faceplate hadn't been down, you could have seen the look of confusion on his face.

_It is a mini-arc reactor! But I thought Mr Stark and I were the only ones who could create one. _He thought as said man walked up next to him. _Did this guy build it on his own?_

"So tell me, how did it handle?" Stark asked. "The armor."

"It Worked Good, Sir. Not Great, But Good." Iron Man said, looking at his singed and sparking left arm.

"You in pain?" Stark asked.

"Yes." Iron Man replied.

"Wrists hurt?"

"Yes."

"Head buzzing?"

"Yes."

"Right. We'll get that looked at Shinji." Stark said as Gendarmes and medical personnel swarmed the track.

"Thank You, Sir." he said, as he handed the mini-arc device to the older man.

"And this as well." Stark said as he stared at the Whip Man's arc reactor.

The pair turned as they heard a man laughing even as he was being cuffed and carted off.

"I win." the man chuckled even as blood and one of his teeth were spit from his mouth.

Both Tony and Shinji just stared at the man, as a strange foreboding filled their minds.

"What Did He Mean By That, Sir?" Shinji asked. "He Lost, And He's In Handcuffs."

"Somehow..... I get the feeling.... we're going to find out." Stark said as both Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan rushed out onto the track.

"Tony! Are you alright?" Pepper asked.

"No. I'm not." Stark huffed.

"What? Are you hurt? Bleeding?" the lovely young woman asked. "What's wrong?"

"This." Stark said, holding up the RT. "This thing should not exist, but it does. Which means that someone has either access to my servers or my brain." he replied, looking at Iron Man who was being tended to by his newest female assistant. A hot redhead with a very svelte figure. _No. He wouldn't have. He didn't have time_. He thought as he continued talking. "Neither one of those things should be possible. Maybe we can find out something from our whip-happy Russian friend... or if not, then maybe this will tell us something." he said as he tossed the RT up into the air and caught it as it came down. "Cause I don't think this is over."

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Authors Notes:

People are going to criticize me for writing up yet another story for my numerous story list, but I couldn't help it.

It took me about an hour to write this up. And I haven't even seen the Iron Man 2 movie yet. (I never even saw Iron Man 1 when it was in theaters) I basically wrote this in honor of Iron Man 2, so I hope everyone enjoys it.

Also, this is Shinji Ikari in the Mark V suitcase armor battling Whiplash. Most of the fight was taken from the Iron Man 2 novel.

I am still mixed as to what I am going to do with this story. I wrote only a small segment for it. Also, I am very mixed as to whom to pair Shinji with. I like a good pairing, really. But honestly, the only people I could pair him with are Pepper Potts, or Natalie Rushman. Kinda limited, right?

Still, this story was kinda written in the same venue as I wrote 'Agent of Achilles'. I don't know what I'll get back to this, like so many other of my stories, so please be patient with me.


	2. The Assistant

_**IRON IKARI****  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Eva, Iron Man 2, or any of it's characters.

Summary: The origin of how Shinji became Iron Man, and how he gained the knowledge of how to build the advanced armored weapon.

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Mission 2  
**The Assistant**

(Monaco Police Station)

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pepper asked as Shinji was patted down by the police.

"Not really. But I can't let Mr Stark go in there." Shinji replied as the French cops stepped back.

"At least not alone." Tony added with a smirk. "He might try and hurt me again."

Pepper just glared at her boss with an unamused smirk. While she did care what happened to Tony, she was also very much concerned for Shinji.

It had taken some tough negotiating and a lot of persistence, but Tony Stark and his assistant Shinji Ikari were going to be allowed to talk to the man who tried to kill Tony on the racetrack. The man had not only attacked Tony, but in the process, at least a dozen drivers had been injured by the man as he cleared the way for Tony's arrival.

It was rather disturbing how something like that can be overlooked. So many people hurt, all because of him. Tony merely played it off as being too focused on the big guy with the energy whips coming out his arms.

The door opened up and the pair were lead inside the holding room. The room was a basic box shape, well-lit and with security cameras in four corners. The thick concrete walls would prevent anyone from trying to escape. Not that this was an issue for the muscular man who wore shackles on his ankles and manacles on his wrists. Just looking at his tattoo's both men would have thought he was recently escaped from prison. He had his back to them as they entered the room, seated on a bench that could have sat 5 or 6 comfortably.

Shinji made his move towards the man while Tony hung back to listen. Shinji insisted on talking to him, mostly since he had questions that needed answers, and personal feelings would only get in the way of this inquiry.

"Hello, Mr Vanko." Shinji said as he walked over and sat down on the end of the bench, facing Stark. (The guards had told Shinji his name before he entered.)

The Russian man turned towards Shinji and cocked an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm the guy who punched your lights out on the race track." he stated.

As expected, a flash of realization widened Vanko's eyes. This alone told Shinji much about the man he now sat with.

"So... you are the Iron Man."

"Yes. As Mr Stark's technical assistant, I am also required to don the armor when he can't."

"I see. Well then... what can I do for you?"

Shinji pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the bench between them.

"I want to know where you acquired this." Shinji said, pointing at the arc unit.

The man smirked and then laughed.

"I did not 'acquire' it." he said. "I made it."

Stark looked shocked and confused.

"Really. If that's true I guess appearances can be very deceiving." Shinji said.

"Oh? How so?" Vanko asked.

"Well, just to look at you, I would guess you just got out of prison. You've been in more than a few fights in your life. Grew up poor, had it really rough. To be honest, you look more like brawn than brains." Shinji said, pausing for a bit as his body stiffened. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude."

Ivan smiled. This boy had manners, even if his words slipped a bit.

"You mean because I do not look like a trademark scientist." Ivan said.

"No. You don't." Shinji said.

"I admire your honestly, boy."

"Then would you please tell me what this is about?"

Ivan sighed as he looked at the boy. "My father was Anton Vanko. He worked together with Howard Stark to create the arc reactor. Until he was betrayed and sent back to the cruel cold of mother Russia. I am here to avenge him."

At hearing this, Tony Stark looked shocked. He had never heard of this Anton Vanko before. Nor had he any idea that his father was involved. At least his father had never mentioned anyone named Vanko before.

At least he thought his dad never mentioned him.

"Is your employer going to do anything, or is he just going to stand in the shadows and watch?" Vanko asked.

Shinji looked over to Stark, who decided to step into Vanko's line of vision.

"You wanted to kill me. Why?" Tony asked.

"A son's revenge, for the cruel act committed by your father." Vanko said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Stark said.

"Never the less..." he said as he stared into Stark's eyes. "...it seems as if my revenge will be carried out another way." he smiled.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.

"Can't you see it? It's. Killing. Him." he hissed.

Shinji looked up at Tony, right into his eyes... and gasped.

"The reactor!" Shinji gasped.

"The palladium, actually." Tony replied with a sigh. "Being directly in my chest, it's been slowly leaking toxic levels of radiation into me. All my attempts to cure it have failed."

Just then, the guard came in.

"Time's up." he said.

Tony motioned for Shinji to depart as Ivan laughed.

"If you can make God bleed, the world will cease to believe in him." he said in an almost sage-like tone that caught Tony's ear. "I have drawn your blood. Soon the sharks will come, and all I have to do is sit here and watch, as the world will consume you." he chuckled.

Tony left the holding room, leaving the Russian man to his fate, even as Shinji dug out his phone. His thoughts, however, were on his boss. He dug out his cellphone and quickly dialed a number.

(_Mari here_) a voice on the other end said.

"Mari-chan, it's me." Shinji said.

(_Shinji-kun!_) She cried happily. (_I saw what happened on the news. Are you alright?_)

"Yes, Mari-chan. I'm fine. Listen, I need you to do me a favor."

(_Sure. Anything._)

"Find me everything you can about a Russian man named Anton Vanko. He apparently worked with Howard Stark about three decades ago on the arc reactor. I need to know the particulars of what happened between them. Anything that would explain Anton's son, Ivan, attacking Mr Stark."

Mari took down the information on paper before replying. (_Alright, Shinji-kun. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. By the way, you did great out there. Boss!_) She said in a playful and, maybe it was Shinji's imagination, sensuous tone.

It actually made him blush at the idea that Mari may have feelings for him like that. There was a part of him that actually hoped she did.

Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, James Rhodes, and Natalia Rushman were waiting outside the police station for the pair.

"So.. how did it go?" Pepper asked.

"Not good." Tony said. "What's the damage on this?"

"Not good." she replied.

Happy got into the driver's seat of the limousine while Rhodes got in next to him. Tony was in the back, with Pepper and Natalia on either side of him. Shinji was sitting on the other side of the limo across from them. In his hand he held the mini arc reactor that Vanko had built.

"Is something wrong, Shinji-san?" Natalia asked, suddenly appearing next to him.

"No, Ms Rushman. Just... thinking." he replied, still staring at the reactor in his hands as his mind flashed back to how all this had started.

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(FLASHBACK, STARK INDUSTRIES, SIX MONTHS AGO)

"Potts!" Tony said through his armor from the roof top.

"Tony!" Pepper said from the ground floor into her blue-tooth.

"This isn't working. We're going to have to overload the reactor and blast the roof." Tony said.

"Well, how are you going to do that?" Pepper asked.

"You're going to do it." he said calmly." When I tell you, go to the central console, open up all the circuits. When I get clear of the roof I'll let you know. You're going to hit the master bypass button. It's gonna fry everything up here."

"Okay. I'm going in now." she said as she made her way into the slightly demolished building.

"Make sure you wait till I clear the roof. I'll buy you some time."

The ten foot armored creature stalked around the smokey rooftop, searching for it's target. It didn't have to wait long, as a red and gold figure suddenly jumped right up and landed on it's back.

"What?" Stane gasped.

"Ha-Ha!" Stark shouted.

"Get Off Me!" Stane shouted as she thrashed around to shake the man.

"This Looks Important!" Tony said as he jammed his hand into his opponents neck and pulled out several wire and circuits.

Out of frustration, Stane gave another massive jerk, and tossed Tony off of him and onto the glass roof that overlooked the reactor itself.

"I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit!" Obadiah shouted after discarding his front chest piece that revealed himself in the armored suit. "You finally outdid yourself, Tony! You'd have made your father proud!"

"It's ready Tony! Get off the roof!" Pepper shouted back to Tony from the inside of the factory.

However, Obadiah starts shooting at Tony with his gatling gun, causing the glass roof to cave in. Tony is caught dangling from the hole opening.

"Tony!" Pepper shouted.

"How ironic, Tony! Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever!" Stane said.

"Pepper!" Stark shouted back.

"And now... I'm gonna kill you with it!" Stane shouted.

A rocket fires from Obadiah's wrist, but goes long and hits the other side of the roof.

"You ripped out my targeting system!" he shouted.

"Time to hit the button!" Stark shouted to Pepper.

"You told me not to!" Pepper shouted back.

"Hold still, you little prick!" Obadiah Stane shouted as he fired off another missile at Tony Stark, this one coming closer.

"Just do it!" Stark shouted.

"You'll die!" Pepper shouted.

Stane fired a rocket at Stark, only to miss and hit the far side of the building.

"PUSH IT!" Stark shouted again.

However, it was right as Pepper fired the arc reactor, that a lone figured suddenly appeared on the roof right between Tony and Stane.

"Huh?" Stane gasped.

"What?" Stark gasped.

(Where?) the Japanese boy gasped.

BOOM!

The arc reactor exploded upwards with immense power right as Tony dove to try and knock the boy out of the line of fire.

Normally, the unleashing of such massive energy would have fried anyone caught in it's path.

Such was not the case of both Tony Stark and Shinji Ikari.

While Obadiah was killed by the brunt of the blast, something unexpected happened to Shinji and Tony. While they were off to the side, a stray beam of energy lashed out and slammed into Stark, blasting him in the back. His Mark I arc reactor was reignited, but the energy continued surging through the armor and body, until it lashed out from Tony and struck Shinji.

It is a scientific fact that information can be transferred from one place to another via electrical signals. Meaning, when the arc reactor's energy surged through Tony and struck Shinji, it interacted with the electrical impulses in Stark's brain, the arc energy copying Stark's neural energy and then transferring his impulses into Shinji's brain.

In effect, Stark's knowledge was copied and pasted into Shinji's brain.

But it didn't stop there. Subsequently, the more electricity surging through the brain areas, the faster and more efficiently the brain functions, even to the point of opening up untapped and unused regions of the brain.

This enabled Shinji to actually make sense of the technical knowledge that he now possessed. But while Stark was protected from the energy surge thanks to his armor, Shinji's plugsuit-covered body continued to be bombarded by the arc reactors energy. This resulted in his latent Angelic DNA being triggered. His cells absorbed the energy and transformed his body in order to compensate for the increased power he was receiving.

(This is why he is 20 years old now)

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It was shortly after Tony Stark's press conference announcement that he was Iron Man, that Stark paid a visit to Shinji who was in recovery in the hospital.

"How is he?" Tony asked as Pepper was sitting outside the hospital room.

"Well, physically he's fine, even if he's now about 20 years old."

"And that's normal because..."

"According to the security cameras on the roof, the boy in question is about 14 years old. We used an age-identification software program you invented."

"Right. I remember that. The FBI paid well for that one." he said.

"But after the explosion, he wasn't 14 anymore. Which is impossible."

"Not really."

"Huh?"

"If a human body is capable of absorbing massive amounts of energy, it could be possible to have that body upgrade itself in order to survive that energy."

Pepper looked at Tony in shock.

"I read it in a comic book."

Pepper sweat dropped as he said that.

"Plus it's the only thing I can think of that would explain his age enhancement." Tony said. "Can I see him?"

"Sure. But... you might want to prepare yourself." she said.

"For what?" he asked.

"Well... he asked for a lot of paper and some pens."

Tony looked at her curiously. "For?"

"This." she said, handing him a sheet of paper from her folder.

Tony stared at the detailed sketch on the paper, looking up at Pepper in shock, before rushing into the room where a 20-year old Japanese man was sitting up in bed sketching on dozens of pieces of paper with the pens he was given. Before Tony could speak, he darted back out into the hallway.

"What was his name?" Tony asked.

"Shinji. Shinji Ikari." Pepper said.

"Thanks." he said and then ducked back inside the room.

"Nice to see you're awake." Tony said, trying to be calm and friendly, even as he tightly gripped the piece of paper in his hand.

"Oh. Hello, sir." Shinji said, looking up for a brief moment before going back to the drawings.

Stark came over to his side and looked at the drawing he was working on, as well as the others that were strewn around the bed.

They were all technical specs and blueprints ... of the Arc Reactor and the Iron Man armor! What's more, there were notations of exactly what materials to use and how to combine them together.

_This... is not good_. Stark thought as he looked over the sketches and the hastily working young man. "Is... something wrong? You seem... hurried."

"I just... I can't get these formulas and images out of my mind." Shinji said as he continued working on the paper in front of him. "And these are... I've seen these images before, but I've never seen such detail before. I'm seeing numbers and letters... scientific and mathematical formulas that just keep coming one after the other, I... I know what they mean, but... what am I creating?"

_Something that could be trouble for everyone, especially him, if they found out __what__ he was creating. _Tony thought as he looked at the designs. Some were of his Iron Man armor, but some of the papers had variations to them that were neither ugly or impossible. _He's creating new types of armor? This is bad! If the military gets wind of this, they'll force him to create all kinds of weapons for them that... will lead to a global war, or worse... mankind's ultimate destruction._ Tony thought as he looked over and found a set of doctors tools.

Scissors, scrapers, tongs, and even a scalpel.

He looked back as a pain shot thought his chest. It wasn't the arc reactor or the shrapnel in his chest. It was guilt and shame over what he was considering.

_Damn it! I can't do it. But how can I keep this now brilliant mind from causing untold damage to the world?_ Tony thought... and then smiled. "Excuse me, Shinji was it?"

"Yes, sir?" Shinji asked.

"Would you be interested in a job?" Stark asked.

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And that was how Shinji Ikari became Tony Stark's technical assistant.

Tony took Shinji to his mansion in Malibu, California, and to his garage where he had developed his armored technology.

It was there that Tony and Shinji exchanged their histories, while JARVIS, the home computer, was listening intently.

Though JARVIS was merely an incredibly advanced A.I., Stark was hoping that the house computer would be able to discern whether or not Shinji was telling the truth about what happened to him.

While Stark revealed his own past to Shinji, from his fathers early career working on the Manhattan Project, to Tony's eventual rise to succeed him as CEO of Stark Enterprises, developing advanced weapons for the US Military, his wild parties and glamorous lifestyle, and leading up to his capture by the Ten Rings terrorist group. It was there that he and Dr Yinsen developed the somewhat crude armored suit that enabled him to escape. But it was there that he also developed his mini arc reactor that powered the suit, as well as saved his life.

Once back in the United States, Stark discontinued his weapons program and perfected his armored suit, which he used to strike back against the Ten Rings after learning that more of his weapons had found their way into their hands. But it was later that he found out that his business partner, Obadiah Stane, had actually set him up to be killed by the Ten Rings. Worse, he had built his own armored suit, which was more powerful than Tony's, in order to sell to the military for billions of dollars.

It was only thanks to Pepper and the exploding arc reactor that Stane was killed along with his Iron Monger suit.

But it was also during this explosion that Shinji appeared on the roof, almost from out of nowhere, and was exposed to the arc reactors energy.

It was because of this, that Stark offered up his own theory as to what happened to Shinji, both physically and intellectually.

Naturally, Shinji was shocked. More from the fact that he actually understood the science behind Stark's explanation, as well as the technical expertise needed to create the armors.

Of course, that was the problem.

Even as Shinji told Stark, and JARVIS, about his life as an Eva pilot, starting from his mother dying, his father abandoning him, his being coerced into piloting Eva, the pains of his various battles, and then up to his being swallowed by the 12th Angel. After which he found himself on the roof of Stark Enterprises, and was blasted by the arc reactors energy.

Despite the bizarre transformation he had endured, Shinji realized what Stark was ultimately leading up to. Namely the fact that he now possessed the knowledge of how to create his Iron Man armor. Because of this, and because Stark had no intention of killing him, Shinji realized that the position of 'technical assistant' was ultimately a means to keep Stark's knowledge from being used against innocent people like they had in Afghanistan.

But also, after finding out that Tokyo-3 didn't exist, that Second Impact didn't happen, Shinji was lost as to what he should do in this world. Though there was a part of him that wanted to go back, neither he nor Stark could conceive a way to cross over dimensions. Even with their combined intellects.

Stark actually considered asking Reed Richards for assistance, but he doubted that the elastic scientist would be able to help in this case. Though parallel dimensions and body transformations might be something Reed would believe, the real issue was availability. Reed had recently been married and enjoyed a much richer, though unwanted, celebrity life than Stark himself.

Plus he and Reed hadn't spoken much since Stark started developing weapons technology for the military.

Though his weapons development had ceased, the pair were still at odds on several issues.

Naturally, this left Shinji even more depressed, at the prospect of never seeing his surrogate family and friends again.

Tony didn't like seeing Shinji, or anyone who worked for him for that matter, upset or depressed, and because he was who he was, one month before the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, Tony decided to get Shinji an assistant.

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Shinji Ikari wasn't Tony Stark.

Despite having his intellect, he did not possess the same personality as the playboy inventor. Pepper Potts actually found this to be refreshing, though she did wonder why Shinji kinda kept his distance from her.

It wasn't until Tony explained to her the details of his life, which included Shinji's interactions with a certain hyper-aggressive German redheaded, that Pepper decided to 'filter' the assistant-finding process to a select group of individuals. People she thought that Shinji would be more... comfortable around.

Shinji was in Stark's garage going over a new armor design with JARVIS, when Pepper walked in with someone in tow.

(_Are you certain the armor would be able to sustain a depth of 2000 feet?_) JARVIS asked.

"If my math is right. And it usually is." Shinji said.

"Shinji? I'd like you to meet someone?" Pepper said.

"I'm a little busy, Ms Potts." Shinji said as he looked up from the work station. "Can it..."

Shinji froze when he caught sight of the young gorgeous woman next to Pepper. He gauged her height to be about the same as him, as well as her age. She was dressed in a short, blue skirt draped over a pair of black stockings and matching pumps. Shamelessly, he thought that it complemented her rather shapely legs, flaring curvy hips, and well-defined posterior. Her thick, red-rimmed glasses framed her dark blue eyes perfectly as he noticed her complexion seemed to be a mixture of Japanese and perhaps Caucasian. She completed the look with a white blouse that made her long-flowing, chocolate-brown locks stand out against the wrinkle free shirt. He again felt a stab of shame go through him when he realized just how endowed the young woman was, given her age.

He vaguely wondered if he didn't get 'something' else from Tony Stark, or if it was just hormones playing with his head.

"..wait?" Shinji finished his thought as he and the young woman locked eyes.

Aware of their little staring contest, Pepper continued.

"Shinji, I'd like to introduce you to Ms. Mari Makinami. She's one of several people who've applied for the assistant's position." Pepper said, the pair keeping eye-contact.

"Mr Stark's assistant? I thought that was your job." Shinji asked, still staring at the young woman. _And why did Pepper bring her here?_

"Actually, Tony's given me a promotion. I am now the new CEO of Stark Enterprises. So, he needs a new assistant, and so do I. But he thought you could use one as well."

"Me?" he gasped, finally looking at Pepper.

Pepper shrugged. "It's Tony." she said, nonchalantly. "He thought you and Ms Makinami would be... compatible."

He cocked an eyebrow after she said that.

"His words." she explained. "Mari comes highly recommended with a very impressive résumé. As well as a degree in computers and languages."

"Okay." Shinji said nervously as he turned to face the young woman. "Uh... I'm pleased to meet you, Makinami-san. I'm Shinji Ikari." he said, holding out his hand to her.

"I'm... pleased to meet you... Shinji-san." she replied with equal nervousness. "I am Mari Illustrious Makinami." she said, reaching for his hand.

"'Illustrious'?" Pepper asked as their hands met.

ZAP!

A small spark of static electricity leapt between their hands, causing them to break apart. While many people would have thought it nothing but an accident, Pepper couldn't help but notice the small blush on their cheeks as they tried not to look at each other.

_Oh boy!_ Pepper mentally laughed. _A little static shock and these two are 'digging on each other'. As Rhodey would say._ "Uh, Illustrious?" she asked again.

"My father thought my name could use a bit of... flare." she explained.

"Uh, so... Makinami-san is going to be my assistant?" Shinji asked.

"Well, if you want her." Pepper answered.

Shinji kinda blushed at the way Pepper phrased that.

"Want her? No! I Mean Yes! But, I mean, that is, you mean 'want her' want her or,..." Shinji stuttered, his words causing Mari to blush a little as well.

"Mari's job is to help you with the daily run-of-the-mill things that you need to take care of, but can't since you're Tony's technical assistant. Simple things. Like... keep you on schedule; pick up your dry-cleaning; make sure you're eating right; keep you from partying too much." she said, naming off the things she used to do for Tony.

"I don't party." Shinji stated. "And I can wash my own clothes and feed both of us fine, thank you."

For some reason, that little 'feed both of us' statement made Mari envision a candle lit dinner for both of them.

Pepper noticed the slightly dreamy-eyed expression on Mari's face.

_This might work out better than I thought_. "Alright then Shinji. I'll leave you to give Mari a tour of this place. Get her settled into a workable routine, etc. I've got another interviewee to attend to." she said as she turned and walked out.

"Uh... yes, Ms Potts." Shinji said as both he and Mari bowed out to the woman.

Once Pepper was gone, an awkward silence fell upon the pair. It was a few minutes after Pepper had gone that Shinji found the courage to speak.

"Uh... would you like to get some lunch?" Shinji asked.

_Is he asking me out already?_ Mari thought.

"I mean I... haven't had lunch yet and... if we're going to be working together we should probably... uh, talk. Right?"

"Uh, yes. That... sounds good." Mari said shyly.

Unbeknownst to them, Pepper was watching them from the stairs.

_Oh, god. It's the awkward teenage drama show._ She mentally laughed and silently ascended the stairs.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Since then, both Shinji and Mari had really changed. Shinji was more comfortable having a beautiful female friend/assistant who seemed eager to take care of things for him. Mari had gone from a shy and blushing schoolgirl to a more expressive, and even teasing, assistant/friend who seemed very close to her new boss.

Though 'boss' was not a term that Shinji ever made her use around him, the pair were getting closer day-by-day. While Tony was pleased that Shinji was doing better, even to the point of being more expressive and relaxed around the workshop, he was a little upset that the young man hadn't 'closed the deal' with his new assistant as yet.

And whenever he would bring it up, Pepper would do the proverbial 'grab-the-ear' tactic and pull his mind out of the gutter.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Authors Notes:

Hope everyone likes this latest update of my rather hastily written story. It has less action, but more drama and a bit of romance in this. It introduces Mari to the story, with her being Shinji's assistant like Shinji is for Stark.

Not much else I can say about this chapter, except I hope everyone enjoys this. It's been a while since I updated, so I hope this makes up for it.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMAKE!

"Mari's job is to help you with the daily run-of-the-mill things that you need to take care of, but can't since you're Tony's technical assistant. Keep you on schedule; pick up your dry-cleaning; make sure you're eating right; keep you from partying too much." she said, naming off the things she used to do for Tony. "Tell the girls you sleep with there's no hard feelings." she added.

Shinji glared at the woman in shock. "I Don't Sleep With Girls!"

"You mean you sleep with guys?"

"NO!"

"Then it's girls."

"YES! No! I don't... I've never slept with anyone!"

"I'll be your first!" Mari volunteered.

Shinji and Pepper stared at the girl, who was blushing fiercely at what she just said.

"Well... Tony's already done it several times. So... guess you've got a lot of catching up to do." Pepper smirked.

Shinji frowned. "If I was going to sleep with one girl, it would be the person I was going to marry."

Mari and Pepper looked at each other before looking at Shinji.

"Dibs!" Mari shouted.

"No fair!" Pepper grumbled.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMAKE 2!

(The Eva crew in the Iron Man universe, Part 1)

"So, who is this?" Iron Man asked.

"They're friends of mine." Shinji said.

The trio looked at the teenagers. The two boys known as Toji and Kensuke, were just staring up at the trio of armored individuals.

The first was the green and silver armored man they knew as Shinji Ikari. The second was the red and gold armored man named Tony Stark. The third was a black and gray armored man known as James Rhodes.

While Shinji being an adult was shocking enough, it was the walking weapons that were captivating Kensuke.

"THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL!" Kensuke said, jumping up and down like an excited kid, practically jumping around all three of them like he was hopped up on PCP.

"If he does the 'Snoopy dance', I'm gonna shoot him myself." War Machine said.

"No you won't." Iron Man said.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm gonna fry him first!"

"I can't allow that." Shinji said. "He's my friend. I'll shoot him."

Toji could only gulp as he said that.


	3. Battling The Boss

_**IRON IKARI  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Eva or Iron Man 2 or their characters.

Summary: When Tony gets drunk and dons his Mark IV armor, it's up to Shinji and Rhodey to stop him before he does something they're all going to regret.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Mission 3  
**Battling The Boss**

It had been a month since Mari had officially becomes Shinji's assistant.

Since then the young woman had opened up tremendously. Emotionally that is. Her shyness and awkwardness disappearing quicker than Shinji's. The pair had yet to do anything that equated to a date.

However, that wasn't the issue.

Shinji had told Tony about his life in the other universe, but he had yet to tell Mari.

He vaguely wondered what would she do if she found out.

Would she be upset? Would she think I was making fun of her? Would she think I was just making a joke? Would she think it was a reason not to be close to her?

These were his thoughts as the plane headed back to America. However, while Shinji was wondering how he was going to explain his 'situation' to Mari, mostly since he figured he owed it to her, his boss, Tony Stark, and the others were in the process of planning, and maintaining/coordinating, two very important events.

The first was Tony Stark's birthday party. The second was The Stark Technology Expo that was one of Howard Stark's most important charities. While the Expo was supposed to be ongoing for the next year, it had put considerable stress on Stark, which was slowly showing to those who knew him best.

Such as Shinji.

For years, Howard Stark had had this grand dream of showing the world what was possible through the advancement of technology. Science to help the world. Despite the military application to his work, Howard wanted to show the world the benefit that technology could have for all of mankind. Even those countries that were not yet so advanced.

Which is why the Stark Expo, often held in New York, was such an important thing to Tony. It would be a real legacy to leave behind, instead of the military one he was known for. A final act to be achieved before his time was done.

A time that would be coming sooner than expected.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  
(Los Angeles International Airport)

As the private plane taxied into the special waiting area designated for Stark Employees only, Mari Illustrious Makinami was happy to see everyone returned safely from Monaco.

Yet she was more eagerly awaiting her 'boss' returning alive and well, even though she had spoken to him only a day ago.

First out of the plane was Tony Stark (inventor and hero). He was of medium height and build, in fairly good shape for someone who 'played' around a lot. Dark combed hair, mustache, and clearly of Caucasian descent, dressed in a black suit, no tie, and a white shirt underneath with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

Following him was Pepper Potts (current CEO of Stark Enterprises). She was about as tall as Stark, though from a distance some people thought she was the taller. Long, light reddish hair with an almost pale-peach complexion, greenish eyes and dressed in a very nice looking business suit.

After her was Natalia Rushman (Pepper's new assistant). She was young, shapely, very attractive, with red hair a few shades darker than Pepper, striking blue eyes and a strange quite demeanor. She was dressed simply in a pair of black pants and shoes, white blouse, and lightly done make-up.

Happy Hogan (driver, sparring partner, all-around handyman) was directly after the pair of redheads. He was a little shorter than Stark, much stockier (like he enjoyed eating) with thinning black hair and an almost incurable smile on his face. He was dressed in a black suit and tie combo, and was carrying the carry-on luggage in his hands, around his neck and shoulder, and even one in his teeth.

Then came Lt Colonel James Rhodes (Stark's military liaison and one of Tony's best friends). He was a lean, muscular African-American man with thinner hair than Happy. A sharp, hard edge to him and dark brown eyes that spoke of a no-nonsense attitude. He was dressed in his usual dark blue Air Force uniform and black shoes. His service hat was in his hands.

Shinji Ikari (Stark's technical assistant and hero in training) was the last one out, and Mari had happily brought her car to take both her and Shinji back to Stark Manor.

(At least that's what they called it.)

"Welcome back, Shinji-kun." she said, using the affectionate term on him.

"Glad to be back, Mari-chan." Shinji replied.

The urge to hug each other was difficult to resist, though it helped that there were other people around to help keep them self-conscious. (Though in all honesty, Shinji could have used a hug or two from someone who cared.) Tony, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey and Natalia took the limo that had been brought for them, while Mari drove Shinji in her own car.

A brand new, black, _Audi_ R8 V10 Spyder.

While they were heading back, Shinji was playing with the mini arc reactor that he had taken from Vanko.

"Is that the device?" Mari asked as she drove down the ocean-view road.

"Yes. I was able to analyze it, and it's exactly like Mr Stark's arc reactor."

"Exactly?" she asked.

"Well... mostly." Shinji said. "Mr Stark's is more... streamlined."

"But it's just like the one in his chest?" she asked.

"Yes." Shinji said, then paused. "Oh, did you get the info on Anton Vanko?"

"Yes, I did." Mari said as she reached over to the glove compartment on Shinji's side of the car. But as she did, her breasts rubbed against his legs, causing an unintentional reaction that Shinji tried to hide.

_She did that on purpose!_ He thought. "Can you see where you're going?" he gasped.

"This will just take a second." she said, fumbling with the glove box to get to the file.

"MARI! TRUCK! LOOK OUT!" He shouted as he leaned over towards the steering wheel to push them out of the way.

But as he did, he sandwiched Mari between his legs and chest.

_Oh My!_ Mari thought as she felt his weight upon her. Of course, that wasn't the only thing she felt.

Shinji pushed the steering wheel to the side, causing the car to swerve and miss the on coming truck by a few feet. The car pulled onto the side of the road as Shinji shouted to Mari.

"Break! Break!" Shinji screamed.

Mari quickly put her foot on the break and Shinji threw the gear stick into Park.

"Oh...God!" Shinji cried out as he threw himself back against his car seat, the car safely off to the side of the road and fully stopped.

Once the car had ceased moving, Mari rose up off of Shinji's lap and looked at him. "You know, if anyone were to pass by right now, it might have looked like I was giving you a ..." Mari started to say, only to be stopped by Shinji putting his hand over her mouth.

"Please, don't." Shinji said with a blush. "So, what do you have?"

"Besides your hand on my mouth?" she mumbled, kissing his hand with her lips.

He blushed as she did that.

"Sorry." he said, removing his hand as Mari just smiled at his rather innocent nature, pulling the file from the glove compartment and handed it to Shinji.

Shinji took the file and stared at it. "1963?" he asked, noting the date.

"Yes. Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States and apparently joined forces with a brilliant young inventor named Howard Stark. However, in 1967 he was accused of spying for the Russians and deported back to the Soviet Union." she said.

"A physicist and an inventor." Shinji mused. "1963 to 1967. That was around the time Howard Stark developed the Arc Reactor for his factory."

"There isn't any information about what happened. But... according to some rumors I dug up, Anton wanted to use the arc reactor to make money. Sell it to the highest bidder or something. Howard Stark, however, didn't want to profit from the reactor. He was majorly invested in using the advancement of technology to make the world a better place. Not a fast buck. One of the rumors I dug up, says that Howard Stark actually turned Anton over to the feds and had him deported back to the Soviet Union. Without Howard Stark's support, Anton lost everything and eventually died in poverty. But he did have a son."

"Ivan." Shinji said, closing the file.

"Yes. He was also a physicist who was accused of selling weapons-grade plutonium to Pakistan, and spent 15 years in Kopeisk prison. After that... nothing. Until he showed up on the Monaco race track to try and kill Mr Stark, of course. Best guess is that he did it because..."

"Because Howard Stark isn't around anymore, Anton's son decides to go after his son. The son blaming the son for the sins of the father." Shinji huffed as he closed the file. "Who accused Vanko of spying?"

"A federal agency that was newly formed during the Cold War. It's original name was the State Security Department. They've changed the name since then."

"To what?" he asked.

"SHIELD." she answered.

"This just gets better and better!" he groaned, wondering if, or how, General Fury was involved in all of this.

(Honestly, he wouldn't have doubted it.)

"Actually, it gets better. I got this news flash a few hours after the Monaco incident." Mari said, handing Shinji another piece of paper. "Mr Vanko was killed in some kind of an explosion at the prison."

Shinji looked at Mari in confusion.

"He's dead?" Shinji asked.

"Yes. The police are still investigating. So far, no suspects, no motive, and no witnesses to the crime." she replied.

"A professional job. That doesn't sound good." Shinji sighed. "And, of course... there's another issue to contend with."

"What issue?"

Shinji spared a sideways glance at Mari, wondering if he should betray Tony's trust after Tony told him specifically not to mention his condition to anyone.

Of course, Shinji was now as smart as Tony Stark. So he did have a plan.

"Mari-chan... I need you to get something set up for me." he said. "It's very important."

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  
(17 hours later)

Tony Stark's birthday party was always a big event. A Party-Of-The-Year kind of thing.

Politicians and world leaders weren't invited, and probably wouldn't attend, but you could bet that a gallery of beautiful women would definitely be there. Even if Tony Stark himself had to ask them personally to attend.

Through all of Stark Manor, music was thumping, drinks were flowing, and everyone was feeling more alive than they had in years.

So naturally, the place was a madhouse when Shinji arrived. Walking through the gaggle of people, all young, beautiful and just having a good time, Shinji was squeezed, pushed, bumped in to, and he could have sworn more than a couple of women (and possibly a guy) had felt him up. Reaching the main inner room where the party was taking place, Shinji was relieved to find a familiar face.

"Shinji!" a dark-skinned man in civilian clothes called out.

"Colonel Rhodes?" Shinji gasped, shaking the man's hand.

"Thank god you're here. Maybe you can talk some sense into Tony." James Rhodes said.

"Why? Where's Ms Potts?" Shinji asked.

"Right there!" Rhodes said, pointing to the stage and seeing a very drunk Tony Stark, decked out in his Mark IV armor, trying to kiss Pepper Potts in front of everyone.

"Oh no. He's getting worse." Shinji stated. (More like _understated_)

"Getting? He's already there!" Rhodes said. "I was on the phone with the President only a few minutes ago! He wants Iron Man back on watch. No excuses!"

Shinji looked at Rhodey with a panicked expression.

"Or... what? He's going to send a few thousand troops to come in here and take his armor?" Shinji asked.

"The way Tony's acting... in that suit... probably." Rhodey replied.

However, before Shinji could do anything to stop his employer, a burst of light and a champagne bottle exploded overhead. Stark had actually used the Mark IV to do a little target shooting for the crowd.

"I'm sick of this!" Rhodes sneered. "I put my neck out for that man, and look at him! Playing with that thing like it's a toy! Like he's just doing whatever the hell he wants cause he's gonna die tomorrow!"

"We don't get him out of here in the next hour, he just might." Shinji stated.

Rhodey looked at Shinji in confusion.

"Wha-what? What are you talking about?" the Air Force Colonel asked.

Shinji looked at Rhodey with a dead serious expression on his face, before leaning in closer to the man.

"Mr Stark is dying!" Shinji said so that only they could hear it.

(Not that anyone could hear them, paying more attention to Tony shooting up his own house like it was some old, warn out mansion ready for demolition)

Now Rhodey hadn't known Shinji that long, but long enough to know that he didn't make jokes. And not like this.

"What? How? From what?" Rhodes asked.

"The palladium in his arc reactor. It's been slowly killing him since he created it." Shinji said.

Rhodes looked down to the floor and then back up to Shinji. "And that weird rash on his neck?"

"It's a symptom of the poisoning. I've come up with a method to extract the toxins, but if we don't get him out of here soon..."

"Alright, alright, alright, so what do we do?" Rhodey asked.

"ATTENTION! LADIES AND GENTLESMEN!" a familiar voice shouted over the loudspeakers.

"Oh, no!" Shinji gasped, realizing that Tony was even further gone than he had expected, feeding his voice from the suit directly into the speaker system.

"I, TONY SNARK, YOUR HOST, WILL NOW PERFORATE ARIEL ACROBATICAS, WITHIN THE CONFINEES OF MY VERY OWN HIZZY!" a very drunk Tony slurred through the speakers.

"Damn it! With him suited up we're gonna need an army to bring him down." Rhodey hissed.

"No." Shinji replied. "Not an army. Armor!" he said, grabbing Rhodey's arm and leading him down into the garage.

"So exactly how long have you known about this?" Rhodey asked as Shinji input the access code to let them into the garage.

"Since Monaco! Even that guy, Vanko, knew about it. And if we don't stop Mr Stark now... well I don't think that alcohol's helping his recovery or abating the symptoms." Shinji said as he accessed the computer terminal at Tony's desk.

"What are you thinking?" Rhodey asked.

"I'm gonna match armor for armor." Shinji said as the special case for the red and gold Mark III armor opened up right in front of the pair.

"We're gonna use the Mark III?" Rhodey gasped.

"Yes." Shinji said as he initiated the protocols to have the machinery suit him up.

"But Tony's Mark IV is twice as powerful as that thing!" Rhodey stated.

"That's why I'm not going out there without back-up." Shinji said as the case for the Mark II was opened up automatically.

Rhodey looked at Shinji.

"Care to back me up, Colonel?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, sir!" Rhodey said with a smile.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Tony Stark, the invincible Iron Man, was now hovering in mid-air, using only his stabalizers pointed at the ground, while his feet were pointed upwards to the ceiling. He quickly landed and started shooting champagne bottles and watermelons into the gaggle of gorgeous women that were all around him.

It was shortly after he had blown up a watermelon using his chest RT, that a heavy pair of stomping boots walked into the room. No one had yet to take notice of them yet, so a louder noise was needed.

"I'M ONLY GONNA SAY THIS ONCE!" a voice shouted, getting everyone's attention.

The crowd turned to look and saw James Rhodes decked out in silver-like Iron Man armor. Standing next to him was Shinji Ikari, decked out in a similar-looking red and gold Iron Man armor.

"Get Out." Rhodes stated clear enough for everyone to hear him.

That was enough as people started running for the door, and both Shinji and Rhodey closed their face plates before advancing towards Tony.

Tony, however, was too drunk to take any of this seriously.

"Let Me Talk To..." Shinji said, only to have Rhodes walk past him and right up to Stark.

"You Don't Deserve To Wear One Of These! Shut It Down!" Rhodes declared to Tony.

_Oh boy!_ Shinji groaned

Tony turned around and looked at the DJ booth. "Goldstein?"

"Yes, Mr Stark?" the DJ asked.

"Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy and my assistant's ass to." he said with a laugh.

_Oh you did not!_ Rhodey groaned as he advanced towards Stark.

The second 'Another One Bites The Dust' came on, Rhodes had jumped on Stark's back.

Shinji just hung his head. _Well, since diplomacy is out the window..._ he thought, right as Stark used his rocket boots to blast himself and Rhodey into the workout room, _...make that through the wall... I'd better level the playing field!_ He thought as he pushed the Mark III in their direction.

"Now Put That Thing Back Where You Found It Before Someone Gets Hurt." Iron Man declared before walking away from Rhodes.

Rhodes grabbed the nearest heavy weight and was about to throw it at Iron Man's head, when Shinji came barreling in through the hole and tackled Iron Man back to where Rhodes was standing.

"I'm Really Sorry About This, Sir!" Shinji said as he looked down at the red and gold inventor.

"Yeah, I Can Tell You're Really Holding Back!" Tony grunted as he threw up his arms and knocked Shinji off of him.

Iron Man quickly got back to his feet, only to have Rhodes intercept him.

"This Ends Now Tony!" Rhodes said as he grabbed a large barbell with weights on it and slammed it into Iron Man's body, knocking him across the boxing ring and into the far wall.

"Wow. Nice Hit, Sir!" Shinji said.

"Thanks!" Rhodes said as Iron Man got back up.

"Two Against One. Not Fair!" Iron Man said. "You're Both Fired!"

"Sorry, Sir. But Ms Potts Is The CEO Now." Shinji argued.

"And You Work For Me!" Iron Man said.

"I Don't!" Rhodes said.

Iron Man exploded up from the other side of the ring and barreled towards the pair.

"Double..." Rhodes started as he pulled back his right fist.

"...Whammy!" Shinji finished as he pulled back his left fist.

Iron Man flew directly into their line-up, right as both men let fly their fists, punching the armored inventor hard in the face and sending him flying into and through the ceiling.

"Ohhhhhhh Ouch!" Iron Man declared as he looked up at the ceiling. "Am I Upstairs?"

"Mr Stark, You Need To Stop!" Shinji declared as he leapt through the hole and landed next to him.

"Can't Do That. I Still Own You And Ass-Kicking!" Iron Man slurred as he made a lunge for Shinji, only to get an uppercut courtesy of James Rhodes, who exploded through the hole in the floor, punched Iron Man, grabbed his armor, and dragged him back down into the hole.

"This... Is So Not According To Plan." Shinji groaned as he jumped into the hole after them.

Rhodes punched Tony, sending him through another wall, only to have Iron Man get back up and leap at the silver soldier, fire both jetboots, and send Rhodes flying through another wall. That was Shinji's cue to blind side Iron Man with a forceful crash right into the kitchen.

"Mr Stark! We Have To Stop This!" Shinji shouted.

"Can't! One Of Us... Is Still... Conscious!" Iron Man shouted as he punched Shinji in the head.

Shinji rolled with it and returned the punch.

Iron Man punched Shinji in the face.

Shinji punched Iron Man in the face.

Iron Man punched Shinji in the face.

Shinji punched Iron Man in the face.

Iron Man threw another punch, only to have Shinji deflect the attack and toss him in the center of the room, where he became a perfect target for James Rhodes, who charged, leapt into the air, and kicked Iron Man in the chest with both feet, sending him flying backwards into the nearest wall.

"Ohhhhhh." Iron Man groaned.

"I'm Not Gonna Ask You Again!" Rhodes shouted. "STAND DOWN!"

"Oh... I Don't Think We're Done... Just... YET!" Iron Man declared as he threw up his hands, his repulsors, both of them, armed and glowing.

Rhodey and Shinji threw their hands up to meet both of his.

"Put Your Hand Down." Rhodes declared.

"You Think You Got What It Takes To Wear That Suit?" Iron Man asked.

"We Don't Have to Do This, Tony." Rhodes said.

"You Wanna Be The War Machine, Rhodes, Take Your Shot!" Iron Man declared.

"Put It Down!" Rhodes shouted.

"You Gonna Take A Shot?" Iron Man shouted back.

"Don't Do It!" Rhodes shouted.

"Come On!" Iron Man shouted.

"Drop It!" Rhodes shouted.

"Take It!" Iron Man shouted.

"NO!" Shinji shouted.

Three beams of energy fired, enveloping the room in a blinding flash of light.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  
(Stark Enterprises Corporate HQ. South Warehouse)

The South Warehouse had been primarily used for storage of odds and ends that Stark had been working on over the years when he wasn't working on military projects. Because of this, Tony had it converted into Shinji's main laboratory for his exclusive use. Approximately 60% of the warehouse was now his lab. The rest being used for storage.

Stark had even included an 'Armor Maintenance' facility like he had in his garage, fully equipt with the same kind of arms and mechanics that would enable Shinji to 'suit up' and test any of the armors if he needed to. And to make things even more convenient, Tony had provided Shinji with his own Artificial Intelligence companion. Just like Tony had JARVIS, Shinji had a HOMER.

It was here that Shinji brought the unconscious Tony Stark, both men still decked out in their armors.

"Is Everything Set Up, Mari-Chan?" Shinji asked as he fell in through the skylight.

"Yes, Shinji-kun. Just like you asked." Mari said, smiling at her bosses arrival.

"Great. HOMER! Give Me A Hand With The Armor!" Shinji shouted to the computer system.

(_I don't have hands, Shinji_) HOMER replied.

"Well... Not _Your_ Hands, But..."

(_I understand_.)

While Shinji held up his unconscious boss, HOMER used the mechanized arms in the Suit Up area to strip Tony of his Mark IV armor, piece by piece, until all that was left was Tony Stark himself. Shinji then carried the still unconscious inventor towards a large glass tank that was filled with a strange blue liquid, which Mari had prepped for his arrival.

"What is this thing again?" Mari asked, following behind the pair.

"It's A Modified Version Of An Ionic Detox Footbath." Shinji said. "But Instead Of Leeching Toxins Through His Feet, This Device Will Pull The Toxins From Mr Stark's Entire Body. It's A Much Quicker And Effective Method."

"And why are we doing this? You make it sound as if Mr Stark is sick."

"He Is." Shinji said.

"He is?" she asked.

"Yes. Get The Mask And Put It Over His Face." he said, indicating the mask at the head of the tank. "I Should Have Told You Sooner. Mr Stark Is Suffering From Palladium Poisoning." Shinji explained as she did just what he wanted, affixing a scuba breathing apparatus (which looked like a full-face oxygen mask) to Tony's face before Shinji lowered him into the bathtub-like tank.

"Palladium? Like... the same stuff in his arc reactor?" Mari asked.

"Exactly." Shinji said. "HOMER, Activate Extraction Process!"

(_Initiating... now!_)

The pair stepped back from the tank as it started to glow.

"Good. Now... Get Me Out Of This Thing!" Shinji said as he stepped up to the Suit Up Area.

Instantly, the mechanical hands and gears started stripping him of his borrowed armor.

"So, you mean to say that the thing that's been keeping Mr Stark alive, is the very same thing that's killing him?" Mari asked.

"Unfortunately. He's been trying to find a cure and a replacement for that particular element, but so far he hasn't been able to come close to either one."

"So that means that this method of removing the toxins with this bath thing, is..."

"A treatment, not a cure." Shinji said, finally out of the Mark III. "The process is going to take a couple of hours. There's a lot of work that needs to be done in the meantime."

"Yeah, like what we're gonna tell Ms Potts."

"Just tell her that Mr Stark is safe, and that he'll be in recovery for the time being."

"Me? Why me?"

"Two reasons. 1-I need to work on something that's gonna consume all my time, and 2-because she likes you."

"She likes you too, Shinji-kun." she smirked.

"Yeah. But not as much as she likes you." he smirked back.

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"Well?" Shinji asked his assistant while typing on his computer.

"I told Ms Potts that Mr Stark is with you, and he is in recovery. She's anxious to see him." Mari said as she closed her cellphone.

"Not just yet." Shinji said. "After what he did at his own party, a little cooling off period is just what the doctor ordered. For everyone."

"Okay. But... what are we going to do now?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.

"I mean... with this!" Mari said as she pulled Shinji from his chair and console and over to a scale replica model of the Stark Expo laid out on a large table.

"What is this doing here?" Shinji asked his assistant.

"Ms Potts sent it over. As Mr Stark's Technical Assistant, she figured you would want to be intimately involved in everything Mr Stark was involved in." Mari explained. "Even though she isn't fond of the idea."

Shinji sighed as he stared at the model, wondering why he was even bothering. Thanks to Tony Stark, Shinji had become a scientist not a landscaper. An inventor, not a decorator. Although he did have to admit that the whole model was perfectly planned. All the pavilions and booths were set up perfectly adjacent to each other. The pathways and walkways were evenly stretched out. And the Expo Sphere was right in the center of the whole thing.

It was as if the whole thing was some kind of...

"No! It can't be!" Shinji gasped.

"Can't be what?" Mari asked.

"HOMER, would you please Vac-U-Form a digital wire frame into a manipulatable projection?" he said to the AI.

(_Of course, Shinji_) the AI said as lights and scanners washed over the model, taking holographic pictures of the whole thing.

(_1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, Shinji_) HOMER said.

"Huh. How many buildings are there?" Shinji asked.

"Do you want to include the Belgium waffle stand and the German Bratwurst booths?" Mari asked.

"Never mind." Shinji smirked. "Mark the pavilions red."

HOMER made the buildings, on the blue holographic rendering, red.

"Alright, let's try some color coding. Mark every causeway, footpath, tram, restroom, waffle stand, everything. Anything with a concrete wall." Shinji instructed.

HOMER did just that, and when he was finished, Shinji turned the holographic model on it's head, laying it up straight for him like he had placed it against a wall.

"Mari-chan... what does that look like to you?" Shinji asked.

"It... looks like a diagram. A blueprint for something. But what?" Mari asked.

(_Ms Makinami is correct, Shinji. It appeares to be the base structure for some kind of molecular diagram. An atom perhaps._) HOMER said.

"In which case... the nucleus would be here! In the Unisphere!" he said, pointing at it the dead center of the image, where the holographic representation of the 'Earth' was. "Highlight, please." he said.

The object was highlighted in yellow, and Shinji used his hands to pull the object out from the main model, enlarged it to the side of a basketball, and just stared at it for a few seconds.

"Hmm. Alright... now... lose the footpaths. All of them." Shinji said.

(_What exactly are you trying to achieve, Shinji?_) HOMER asked as the footpaths fell away.

"I think I've just discovered... no, scratch that. I'm rediscovering a new element. I think." Shinji said.

"It seems a bit cluttered, though." Mari said.

"She's right. Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees. Parking lots, exits, entrances." Shinji instructed.

HOMER did as he was told.

"Alright, now...structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework." Shinji said.

The computer model brought all the buildings and booths together in the exact same pattern they had been as adjacent to the unisphere... as if the flat, three-dimensional map had actually been wrapped around a large ball.

Once the individual buildings were in place upon the sphere, Shinji slapped his hands together and then threw them out, the computer model following his movements and expanding outwards until it surrounded both Shinji and Mari in a large holographic ball.

"Wow." Mari gasped. "I don't know exactly what this is... but I'm impressed."

"Really? Why exactly?" Shinji asked.

"Well... Howard Stark somehow managed to create a brand new element, but he obviously couldn't get it to work with the technology of his era, so he left a message, a secret message, that he hoped his son would be able to decipher." she deduced.

_And because I have Mr Stark's knowledge... _Shinji thought. _...I was able to decipher it_.

"Amazing! Dead nearly 20 years, and it looks like he still found a way to help out his own son." Mari said with a smile.

Shinji had to smile at that as well. "I know. And what's more... I think I recognize this particular molecular structure." he said.

"You do?" she asked.

"I think so." he said with a nod.

"So... what is it?" she asked curiously.

"Ununoctium!" he said with a triumphant laugh.

"Una-what?" Mari asked, clearly puzzled.

(_Shinji, this implies a theoretical element not currently found on the Periodic Table_.) HOMER said.

"I think you'll survive the shock, big guy." Shinji said with a smile. "If I'm right... this new element will serve as a viable replacement for Mr Stark's palladium." he said with a smiled. "Mark VI armor configuration."

HOMER brought up the holographic suit of armor. Once it was up, Shinji placed the holographic element right in the center of the chest piece.

(_Unfortunately, if my analysis is right, it is impossible to synthesize_.) HOMER said.

"Maybe... but I know this will work." Shinji stated.

"How can you be so sure?" Mari asked.

"Call it an educated guess." he said with a smile.

"A guess... huh?" she smirked.

"HOMER, we've got some work to do. And once you're done with the simulations, please write up a memo to the Journal of Science, and have this new element, called Ununoctium, labeled as Element 118 on the Periodic Table of Elements. It should be listed as a transactinide element, having the atomic number 118 and the temporary element symbol Uuo. It should be a p-block element and the last one of the 7th period. And make sure that it's listed, currently, as the only synthetic member of Group 18, having the highest atomic number and highest atomic mass of all discovered elements." Shinji declared.

"Oh, Boss, you keep talking like that and I'm gonna have an orgasm right here and now." Mari said as she sauntered up behind Shinji.

At hearing that, Shinji paused and turned towards the young woman. "Pardon?"

Shinji gasped as Mari threw herself square into his line of sight.

"Some girls get turned on by listening to someone read the works of William Shakespear. Other girls get turned on listening to the lyrics to 'Stairway to Heaven'. Me? I get hot when a cute guy starts going all in-depth and sciency."

"Uh...Sciency?" Shinji gulped, noticing her proximity.

"I already really, REALLY, like you! But if you don't stop talking techno like that, I'm gonna throw you to the floor and have my way with you, right here and right now, whether you want it or not!" Mari declared with heavy panting breaths.

Shinji swallowed hard as he saw the intense look in her eyes, telling him that she was serious.

"Right. Sorry." he said.

Mari smiled as she leaned in and lightly brushed her lips against Shinji's ear, giving it a soft blow that had the desired effect of sending shivers up Shinji's spine.

So naturally, the second she walked off back to her own desk and work station, Shinji actually felt his lungs fill with air again.

"Uh... HOMER?" Shinji asked.

(_Yes, Shinji?_) the AI said.

"I'm gonna need you to tap the Oracle grid. We're gonna need some things from Mr Stark's storage facility. All the equipment from projects Pegasus, Exodus, and Goliath."

(_Those projects were housed in the Southern Warehouse._)

At hearing that, Shinji and Mari just looked at each other.

"But... that's here!" Mari stated.

(_The original components for those projects are still housed in the remaining 40% that used to be this facility._)

"Alright. Then let's get to work!" Shinji said. "Also, I'm gonna need you to interface with JARVIS at the house so that we'll be able to upload his AI into the Mark VI suit."

(_Of course.. Anything else?_)

Shinji sighed as he looked at the holographic model of the Mark VI.

"Yeah. After the fight, Mr Rhodes took off in the Mark II. Did he happen to return the suit to the armory in Stark's garage?" Shinji asked.

(_Uplink with JARVIS... Connecting... Checking... Negative. Colonel Rhodes did not return the Mark II._)

_That's what I was afraid of._ Shinji thought. "Well, then, HOMER... we've got a lot of work to do."

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Author's Notes:

There is very little I can say about this update, except... THANK GOD I GOT IT DONE!

Seriously, I have been working on this for nearly four straight hours trying to get it finished. And here it is. I finally managed to get the Iron Man 2 DVD and watched it over and over again in order to create these scenes. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy this, and maybe even Howard Stark will be able to forgive me for stealing Tony's thunder.

Hope everyone enjoys this and will leave me lots of reviews.


	4. SHIELD and Armor

_**IRON IKARI  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Iron Man 2 or their characters.

Summery: After Tony is healed, Shinji explains what happened, is introduced to General Fury and Agent Romanoff, while preparing for a showdown with Ivan Vanko, and an unforseeable future.

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Chapter 4  
**SHIELD And Armor**

When Tony Stark woke up his body felt completely and totally... slimy.

When he pulled himself up and out of the completely disgusting sludge that was brown, red, green, copper and smelled like every waste product you could possibly imagine, (and even those you didn't want to imagine) he was only relieved that he had on a mask that covered his entire face. Though he could barely move, the stuff was so thick. It was like trying to wade through quicksand.

(Not that Tony Stark had ever been in quicksand. But a guy could imagine, right?)

When he pulled the mask off his face... he wished he hadn't.

"OH... God! I think I'm gonna throw up." Tony heaved.

"Go ahead. I've got a waste disposal crew coming in to collect and dispose of all that." Shinji said.

"Though you'd better get out of there before that stuff hardens." Mari said as Stark scrambled his body out of the tank.

"Welcome back, boss." Shinji said as he handed the man a towel.

"After what happened... you still call me boss?" Tony asked, wiping his face.

"Even when we were fighting, I didn't not call you boss." Shinji said.

"Right." Tony agreed.

"Coffee?" Mari asked, holding out the cup for him.

"Thank you." Tony said, reaching for the cup, only to notice that his hands were still slimy. "You know what? Hold that for me. I need a shower." he said.

"Right over there." Mari said, pointing to a small area off to the right side of the lab.

Fortunately Stark had equipt Shinji's lab with a small bathroom, which included a toilet, sink and a stand-up shower.

It took Tony about 20 minutes to wash and scrub all that horrible gunk off of his body, including soap and shampoo and conditioner. He was given a change of clothes and then accepted the coffee that was waiting for him on the sink counter. Once he was out and dried he took a good look in the mirror and actually smiled.

All around the palladium-powered arc reactor in his chest... was nothing. The poisoning symptoms, which looked like a bizarre viral infection akin to a computer circuit induced rash, were gone.

_He did it. Whatever he did... Shinji cured me._ Tony thought with a smile.

"Are you alright, sir?" Shinji asked as soon as Tony was out of the shower, dressed in a black Stark-logo jumpsuit that Shinji had on hand.

"Well... now that I feel pretty again, I gotta thank you for curing me." Tony said.

"You're... not cured." Shinji replied.

"Pardon?" he asked with some surprise. "What do you call this?" he asked, pointing to his chest.

"I had you submerged in an ionic toxin removal bath, that Mari-chan actually set up for me, so that we could get the palladium out of you." Shinji explained.

"So all that... gunk... that I was submerged in was... the waste by-product?" Tony asked.

"Yes."

"Right. Very gross by the way. How long was I in there?" Tony asked.

"About ten hours." Mari said.

"TEN HOURS?" he gasped.

"Well it wasn't just the palladium, sir. It was the liquor as well." Mari said.

Stark nodded at that. "Of course it was. I'll bet Pepper is mad at me."

"Yes." Shinji said. "But she still wants to see you."

"Surprising." he mused. "And... where's Rhodey?"

Shinji sighed. "He's gone. Along with the Mark II."

"Somehow... I'm not surprised." he said, drinking his coffee.

While he drank his coffee, he looked around at the massive amounts of equipment that Shinji was working on, with Mari's assistance, before talking again.

"You know... you guys really kicked my ass back there." Tony said.

"It wasn't my intention, sir. But..."

"I get it. I was drunk. Irrational. I thought I was going to die... I would have kicked my ass too." he stated with some sobriety.

It was then that Tony became really, really interested in what Shinji was working on. In particular was the small triangular device that sat in the middle of a group of massive power coils. He also saw the small prism-like device that Shinji was fiddling with.

"Okay... what's all this?" Tony asked.

"This... is an experiment... designed to replace your palladium core." Shinji explained.

(_Prismatic Energy Coils ready, Shinji_) HOMER said.

"Thanks HOMER." Shinji said as he tossed a pair of goggles to both Mari and Tony. "Goggles on, please!"

Tony watched as Shinji preformed his experiment and within a few minutes, had successfully created a new element, which looked like a small triangular piece of metal that was glowing with intensity.

_Huh. The energy was focused through the prism and into that piece of metal._ Tony mused. _Where did he..._

Shinji used a pair of tweezers to pull the small glowing triangle out of the device in the center of the experiment and holds it up.

(_Congratulations, Shinji. You just created a new element_) HOMER said.

"What... is that?" Stark asked.

"Ununoctium." Shinji said as he held up the new element for Stark to see.

"Wha... I thought that stuff was supposed to be theoretical." Stark said.

"Well... it was only a theory. Until now." Shinji said as he placed it inside a new mini-reactor that looked like the one Tony regularly used for the palladium core.

(_The new core should serve as a suitable replacement for the core as well as a means of keeping you, Mr Stark, from dying due to the rising toxicity levels of palladium_) HOMER said.

Stark looked at the new core, not blinking in amazement.

"I... owe you a huge, HUGH, bonus." Stark said.

(_The reactor has accepted the new element._) HOMER said. (_Running diagnostics_)

"Actually I just synthesized it. Your father actually came up with the formula." Shinji said.

At hearing that, Tony was shocked.

"Wha... my father?"

While HOMER was running diagnostics on the validity of the palladium core vs the ununoctium core, Shinji brought his boss over to the large model of the 1974 Stark Expo designs that he had used to create the Ununoctium core from.

Using the previously rendered holographic model and explaining exactly what he did to achieve this new scientific miracle, Stark actually had a mixed look of pride and astonishment on his face.

_That's my boy._ Tony thought with pride at how Shinji was able to figure this out. _Though... why did my father leave this behind... in his Expo model?_

"Is something wrong, sir?" Shinji asked.

"I have tried every combination, every permutation of every known element. Nothing has worked to replace the palladium. And you're telling me that my father... who had been dead for about two decades... had already come up with how to create this new element?" Tony asked. _Can't believe he's still__ taking me to school_.

"Kind of." Shinji said.

"We believe that Howard Stark was limited by the technology of his era, so he couldn't realize the Ununoctium's full potential." Mari said. "But.."

"You could. Using today's technology." Tony said to Shinji.

"Yes." Shinji said.

It was then that Shinji brought up the rendering of the newest armored suit.

"The Mark VI?" Stark asked.

"Yes. HOMER uplinked with JARVIS and gave us the design specs." Shinji said. "We could have the new suit fabricated and ready to accept the new core in.."

(_Four__ hours, twelve minutes_) HOMER said.

"Cool. Do it!" Tony said.

"HOMER, get fabricating!" Shinji said to the AI.

Just then the doors to Shinji's lab opened up, and in walked a tall, dark-skinned man with an eyepatch over his left eye, black outfit which included a trenchcoat, and a small group of agents behind him.

"Well, well, well... look what we have here." the dark skinned man said.

"Nick Fury." Tony Stark said with a wiry smile. "What brings you out of hiding?"

"You know... I should be very, very upset with you." the dark-skinned man said.

Shinji looked at Natalie Rushman, decked out in a skin-tight SHIELD uniform.

"Somehow... this doesn't surprise me." Shinji said, staring at the redhead.

"This is Agent Natasha Romanoff." Fury introduced.

"I'm a SHIELD shadow. When we found out Mr Stark was ill, I was tasked to him by General Fury." she said.

"Though it seems as if that was a bit unnecessary now." Fury said.

"Yeah... and what brings you by, Nicky?" Tony asked.

"Actually you!" Fury said.

"Look Fury, I told you, I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band." Tony stated.

"No, no, no. I remember. You like to do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?" Fury asked.

"Oh, you know. So-so." Tony retorted.

However, despite his crass quips, Tony knew what the dark-skinned man was implying. Mostly, the fact that he couldn't have done any of this on his own. The new reactor, getting the palladium toxins out of his body. The whole bit.

"You guys have been pretty busy, haven't you? First you make your girl the CEO of your company, then you give away all your stuff, and then you let your best friend fly away with your suit. Now if I didn't know any better..." Fury said.

"You don't know better." Stark interrupted. "I didn't give it to him, he took it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walks into your house, kicks your ass, and just took your suit?" Fury said with astonishment.

"Technically speaking, it was two against one." Tony said.

"Is that possible?" Fury asked, turning to Agent Romanoff.

"According to Mr Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage." the redheaded shadow agent replied.

"Mr Rhodes didn't _take_ anything. I gave him access." Shinji said.

Fury, Natasha and Stark looked at Shinji incredulously. It was as if he had just confessed.

"That, in of itself, is an incredibly huge security breach." Fury stated.

"Considering how I was acting at the time, _I_ would have given Rhodey access." Tony defended. "Had I been more... sober." he admitted.

"You gave this kid access to your suits, your security, and you don't even know who he is!" Fury snapped.

"Wrong! I know who he is. I know exactly who and what he is. He's my technical assistant, who has more than enough brains to save my life." Tony countered.

"Yeah. Thanks to your father." Fury said.

Tony, Shinji and Mari looked at the dark-skinned director.

"What? You... you knew?" Stark asked the eyepatch wearing man.

"Howard Stark said that the Arc Reactor was a stepping stone to something much larger. He was on the verge of creating something that would have made the nuclear reactor look like a Triple-A battery and that _you_," he said, pointing at Tony, "..were the only one who could figure out and finish what he started." he said then looked at Shinji. "Seems he was wrong for once in his life."

"No... not really. Shinji... has the same knowledge I do. Given time and the right info, I would have eventually been able to figure this out. But he did... while saving my life in the process." Stark said.

Fury and Natasha looked at the ionic toxin extractor. They looked over at the model of the 1974 Stark Expo. And then at the highly complicated set-up that Shinji had just used to create Tony's new reactor.

"I see. You used that thing to pull the palladium toxins out of Tony," Fury said, pointing to the bath, "and while he was in recovery, you managed to synthesis a brand new element that would not kill him, but would also power his suits. Incredible!"

"So... what do we do with all this?" Agent Coulson said as two other agents brought in a thick gray case that said 'Property of H. Stark' on the top of it.

"H. Stark?" Tony asked. "That... that stuff belonged to my dad?"

"Yes." Fury said.

"How did you get it?" he asked.

"It was entrusted to us. Pretty easy since Howard Stark was one of the founding members of SHIELD." Fury said.

Tony looked shocked while Shinji and Mari just looked at each other in quiet knowing. Almost like they had been expecting something like this.

"My father... helped found SHIELD." Tony said. "You knew him?"

"I did. He said that the arc reactor was 'unfinished technology' and that you were the only one with the means and know how to finish it. It's kind of a blow that he was wrong."

"And you must have hearing in only one ear as well as sight in one eye." Tony snarked. "Shinji's knowledge came from me. So..."

"Yeah, and how is that possible?" Fury interrupted. "How did he," he said pointing to Shinji, "get your knowledge? I mean... that's impossible, isn't it? I mean, how could information like that be passed on from one human brain to another human brain? Unless the kid's some kind of psychic."

"If I was... I probably wouldn't like what's in your head." Shinji said.

"Oh? And why is that?" Fury asked the young Japanese man.

"You knew... all this time... even before Monaco... that Mr Stark was dying! You planted a spy in our midst. And then you pick now to show up and offer your help, even though we've already solved the problem." Shinji stated.

"I don't have to justify myself or my actions to a guy who, up until a few months ago, didn't even exist! Who isn't even a United States citizen! Who probably doesn't even come from this universe!" Fury snapped.

"You Knew He Was Dying!" Shinji snapped. "Then you come in here with Howard Stark's old files, telling us that his only son was the only person who could figure out what he couldn't achieve, such as creating this new element, and you knew this! All this time you knew this and didn't tell us until we would have had no choice by to turn to you!"

"Hey, I don't need to hear this from the Nowhere Man!" Fury shouted.

"ENOUGH!" Tony shouted, interrupting the pairs argument. "Is that what's really upsetting you, Nicky? That my boy Shinji actually stole all your thunder? That he figured all this out before you could even say you knew about it?"

Fury just grimaced at that. "Yes." he answered. "You became a problem, Stark! My problem! And by the time I get here to fix things... it's already fixed. So yes, I'm more than a little upset."

"And how exactly were you going to help Mr Stark? With his condition?" Mari asked the SHIELD agents.

It was Agent Romanoff who answered, lifting up a hypodermic needle.

"Lithium Dioxide. It would have abated the symptoms." Natalie said.

"Well, our Ionic Detox Bath removed all the palladium and hard liquor from his body." Mari said.

"And how were you going to cure me of my dependency on palladium?" Stark asked.

"Howard Stark's original files." Fury said, pointing to the gray case the agents had with them.

"Which I don't need anymore thanks to this new reactor core." Tony said, pointing to the triangle shaped reactor that was being analyzed by the advanced AI.

"That was created thanks to the secret message hidden in Mr Stark's 1974 Expo model." Shinji said.

"You got lucky." Fury said.

"Seems that was enough to help me. Which is more than you did." Stark snarked.

Fury smirked at the man.

"Well... it seems as if you don't need us, but there is something we can help you with." he said.

"And what is that?" Tony asked.

"Ivan Vanko is still alive." Natalie said.

Tony, Shinji and Mari looked at each other. Shocked.

"But the news bulletin said he was dead." Mari said.

"We exhumed the body. Ran it against every known and sealed record." Natalie said. "It wasn't his."

"He faked his death... but not on his own." Fury said.

"He had help." Shinji stated.

"Exactly." Fury said.

"But who?" Mari asked.

"My guess would be... Justin Hammer." Fury said.

"You guess?" Shinji asked.

"Someone with resources and money got Vanko out. Hammer is one of those people. Especially after what happened at the Senate hearing." Fury said.

"That's not good. It makes sense, but it's not good." Tony said.

"So what do we do?" Mari asked.

"We ask ourselves... what would Hammer need Vanko for?" Shinji asked. "The answer, of course, is simple. Vanko managed to create an arc reactor similar to Mr Stark's. He might be just the guy that Hammer needs to get those armored suits of his up and running."

"Exactly." Tony said, smiling with pride at Shinji's logic.

"Depending on how many he actually built." Mari said.

"Knowing Justin Hammer... he probably has a dozen or so suits lined up ready for final production." Tony said. "That's just like him. Mass production of a bunch of high-tech toys that don't work right. It's a waste of resources, but... at least he has resources."

"Hammers resources and Vankos brains..." Fury said.

"You mean those suits could actually work?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, for only one reason." Shinji said.

"To kill me." Tony stated as he looked at Fury. "That may not be what Hammer wants, but Vanko sure as hell does. Hmm. Guess you guys are good for something after all."

Fury gave Stark an unamused look. Like he had just been insulted.

"Hammer is planning to make a military presentation at the Stark Expo." Fury said.

"Vanko won't be there." Shinji said.

"We don't know where he will be. Or where he is." Mari said.

"True. But if he's working with Justin Hammer... then Hammer will know." Tony said.

"And if Vanko gets those suits operational... we're gonna have a heck of a fight on our hands." Shinji said.

"I don't think Iron Man will be enough for this." Fury stated.

"Because Iron Man doesn't have a sidekick or a partner." Tony said.

"That doesn't mean he has to fight alone." Shinji said as he went back to his computer to start the customizing of the Mark III.

"Once this issue has been taken care of, we'll address our Shinji problem." Fury said to Natasha.

"And what 'Shinji problem' is that, General?" Stark asked.

"Are you listening in on my conversation? That's very rude." Fury said.

"So is talking about someone behind their back." Stark said.

"You do know that that boy doesn't have a file. Officially, he doesn't exist." Fury stated.

"Oh, like you're one to talk." Tony snarked.

"Then how is he here? Where does he come from?" Fury asked.

"You're the super spy and you don't know?" Tony asked.

Fury just glared with his good eye. "We'll talk later." he said as he and Agent Romanoff departed.

Stark smiled as the pair left, taking a few seconds to admire Agent Romanoff's retreating form, and then went back to help Shinji with the newest models of the Iron Man armor.

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Authors Notes:

Originally I wasn't planning on writing up something so dramatic but it kinda wrote itself.

The interactions between Stark and Fury in the original movie were dependant upon certain factors. Such as Stark not knowing anything about his fathers involvement in SHIELD, Anton Vanko, or even that his dad was working on a new element or power source.

And now that Shinji has basically figured out how to save Stark's life, all of that was completely unnecessary.

Which includes Stark hanging out in a large donut hole right before Fury shows up because Shinji basically kidnapped him and took him to his lab. A lot of people thought that that scene was so cool. And it was very entertaining to watch, I admit.

That being said, I wanted to write up something that would be appropriate yet not take away from what I wrote up. The donut scene was cool, so... you'll just have to read it up in the omake I wrote below.

Hopefully, everyone will enjoy this latest update. The next update will have Shinji, Tony and Rhodey using their armored suits to battle not only Vanko, but his squad of Hammer Drones. I've also got something special planned for Mari. So... keep an eye out for that.

Also, I added a lot of omake's to this update, as a way to make up for the lack of ones in the other chapters. Hope you like them.

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OMAKE! (Alternate Scene)

"Another donut, sir?" Shinji asked as he walked over to the still-inebriated inventor, still dressed in the Mark III armor. He had his helmet in his left hand, a box of donuts in his right.

"Yeah. Something with cream, this time." Tony said as he sat inside the large plaster and metal donut that said 'Randy's Donuts' on it.

The mood was calm even as the sun beat down on both of them. That was, until a voice called out to them.

"Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut!"

The pair looked down and saw a dark-skinned man wearing an eye patch and black trenchcoat just staring up at both of them.

"Ohhh boy. Now I'm gonna get it." Tony groaned.

Hovering back down to the ground the pair of Iron Men walked into the donut shop and joined Fury over at one of the booths.

"Want anything? I'm buying." Fury said as the two Iron Men approached him. Stark sat down while Shinji just stood.

"Look Nick, I told you, I don't wanna join your little super-secret boy band." Tony said to Fury.

"No, no, no, See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?" Fury asked.

"It's... it's... it's..." Tony huffed as he turned and looked at the super spy director. "I'm sorry. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot, but do I look at the patch or the eye?"

Fury looked only slightly amused.

"Honestly, I'm still a bit hung over. I don't know if you're real or if I'm having..." Tony said.

Fury moved in to get right in Tony's face.

"I am very real!" Fury declared. "I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet."

"Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" Tony asked.

"That's not looking so good." Fury said, staring at the palladium poisoning that was creeping up Tony's neck.

"I've been worse." Tony said.

Just then, Shinji turned around as someone approached them.

A very attractive redheaded woman in a skintight SHIELD jumpsuit.

"We've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." the woman said.

Shinji sighed as he took in the image Natalie Rushman standing before him. Stark, on the other hand, just dipped his head so that his sunglasses weren't obstructing his vision.

"Huh. You're fired." Stark said to her.

"That's not up to you." she said.

"Tony, Shinji, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff." Fury said.

"Hi." Tony said.

"Hello." Shinji said.

"I'm a SHIELD shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury." she said.

"I suggest you apologize." Tony said.

"Wait! You mean you knew? All this time?" Shinji asked.

"Yes we did." Fury said.

"And you pick now to tell us this?" Shinji asked.

"Well, we've all been very busy." Fury said. "I mean, you made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn't know any better.."

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it." Tony said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it?"Fury gasped in mock-shock. "You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?"

"He wasn't alone." Stark said looking up at Shinji.

"At least I didn't run off with it." Shinji said. "I am here, sir."

"Right. Good point." Tony said.

"Is all this even possible?" Fury asked, turning to Agent Romanoff.

"Well according to Mr Stark's security database guidelines there are redundances to prevent unauthorized usage." she said.

"What do you want from me?" Tony asked.

"What do we want from you? No! What do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief you are not the center of my universe. I've got bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with! Hit Him!"

HISS!

WHIR!

Nick and Tony looked at the other two people in the restaurant. Agent Romanoff had stuck something into Tony's neck, causing a hissing sound. The second she did that, Shinji had powered up his repulsors and were now aiming them at both Natalie and Fury. Natalie pulled her gun and aimed it at Shinji's exposed face.

"Oh, god! What are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony groaned as his vision started coming back. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds?"

"What did you just do to him?" Shinji demanded, not lowering his repulsor gauntlets.

Fury actually smiled as he saw the intense look on Shinji's face.

"Answer the man! What did she just do to me?" Tony asked.

"What did _we_ just do _for_ you?" Fury corrected. "That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Fine. Give me a couple boxes of that. I'll be right as rain." Tony said.

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." Natalie said, gun still pointed at Shinji.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix." Fury said.

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I have tried every combination, every permutation of every known element." Tony stated.

"We'll I'm here to tell you... you haven't tried them all." Fury stated.

"Lower your gauntlets!" Natalie declared.

"Give me a reason." Shinji retorted.

"Excuse me?"

"You lied about your real name..."

"I was undercover!"

"Manipulated Mr Stark into a drunk frenzy..."

"He posed to me a hypothetical question, I gave him a hypothetical answer!"

"You were spying on us all this time..."

"I had orders!"

"For all I know you could be in league with Vanko when he attacked Mr Stark in Monaco!"

Fury and Natalie looked at Shinji, just as Stark did.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Romanoff? That's Russian. Just like Vanko. And now we find out you're not who you said you were. How do I, how do _we_, know you're not a double agent?"

"The same could be said of you!" she said.

"Pardon me?" Shinji asked.

"You have no file in America or in Japan. Up until six months ago, Shinji Ikari didn't even exist, and now you're wearing one of Mr Stark's Iron Man suits. So tell me... why should we trust you?" Natalie asked.

"Simple. Unlike you, I haven't lied about who I am!"

"And how do I know that?" she countered in a mocking tone.

"If you can't discern truth from fiction, then you don't deserve to be in your profession."

Natalie looked at Shinji with some indignation.

"Oooooh." Nick Fury said with a laugh.

Tony Stark actually laughed at that.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Eventually Tony and Fury called off their subordinates little stand off and all of them were headed back to Stark's destroyed manor.

"Seriously, you two ought to get a room." Tony said as he flew back to the manor.

"I've had enough bad experiences with sexy, aggressive redheads, thank you very much." Shinji said as he flew alongside his boss.

Natalie noticed Nick Fury's amused smirk.

"Sir?" Natalie asked.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn you liked him." Fury said.

"Excuse me?"

"I've never seen you in a standoff with anyone. Normally, you would have fired."

"He wasn't exactly an acknowledged enemy, sir."

"Pointing a weapon at you doesn't exactly make him a friend."

"Point taken, sir. I apologize for my lack of action. Won't happen again."

"Oh, so next time, you will shoot him?"

Natalie didn't have an answer for that.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMAKE 2

"Contrary to popular belief you are not the center of my universe, Shinji!" NERV Director Misato Katsuragi shouted to the armored inventor. "I've got bigger problems in the southwest region to deal with! Hit Him!"

HISS!

"Ouch!" Shinji hissed as Agent Sohryu sat down next to him. "Oh, god! What are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" he groaned. "Could you please not do anything awful for about five seconds? What did she just do to me?" Shinji asked.

"What did _we_ just do _for_ you?" Misato corrected. "That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Seriously, you ought to use some of this for yourself." Shinji said.

"How do you think I found out about it?" Misato asked. "A job this stressful, I need at least a couple cases of beer a day to get me through it. After which I take a couple shots of this stuff and I'm right back in there."

"Figures." Shinji said turning back to Asuka. "You enjoyed that, didn't you? Sticking me with that stuff."

"Kinda." Asuka said. "Though normally I use this paralysis formula. I try it a lot of times on this one guy, Kaji, so..."

"Not sure I want to know." Shinji said.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMAKE 3

"Mr Ikari!" Senator Rokobungi snapped.

"Yes, dear?" Shinji Ikari asked with a smirk.

"Can I have your attention?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"

"I do not."

"You do not?"

"I do not. Well it depends on how you define the word 'weapon'."

"The Iron Man weapon."

"My device does not fit that description."

"Well... how wold you describe it?"

"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator."

"As?"

"It's a high-tech prosthesis." Shinji said.

Everyone laughs.

"That... that is actually the most apt description I can make of it." he continued.

"It's a weapon, Mr Ikari. It's a weapon. And it is in the interest of the Japanese people to get this weapon turned over to the specialized self-defense forces of Japan."

"Well, you can't have it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To hand over my invention would be like handing over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what city or state you are in."

"Well, I'm not expert, sir...

"In prostitution? Of course not. You're a senator. Come on!"

"Mr Ikari?"

"Yes."

"In what regard could this weapon possibly be considered a high-tech prosthesis?"

"I Can Answer That!" a voice called out from the back.

Everyone looked as a young Japanese man walked up from the back of the room, wearing a silver and gray version of the Iron Man suit.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Gunnery Sergeant Toji Suzuhara, injured in the line of duty, losing a leg in the process." Shinji introduced. "Thanks to the advancement of Iron Man technology, this brave young man can continue to serve his country as well as being able to walk since his initial loss several months ago."

The crowd applauded at that.

"So as you can see, it is a high-tech prosthesis." Shinji said with a smirk.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMAKE 4

"I am so going to get fired for this." Misato groaned.

"It's not your fault, Misato." Ritsuko said as she typed on the keyboard.

"Please! If I wasn't so desperate for a pilot to test that suit..."

On the screen, the newest model of the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit was literally rampaging through the city streets, shooting at whatever was in its path.

Machine guns, rockets, grenades, missile... everything was being used to destroy all the surrounding areas around it without regard for personal safety of any kind.

"Let's just hope Shinji can stop that thing." Ritsuko said.

On screen, a red and gold armored figure came into view, landing right in front of the heavily armed and armored suit.

"KENSUKE! SHUT IT DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Shinji 'Iron Man' Ikari shouted.

"Are you kidding? This Is The Coolest Thing I've Ever Done! The strength! The firepower! The armor! I'm INVINCIBLE!" Kensuke 'War Machine' Aida shouted.

_Yeah, Misato's gonna get fired for this_. Shinji mentally groaned. _Letting this crazy otaku into a suit with more bells and whistles on it than the whole JSSDF is the worst call she ever made_.

"And I Will Never Be Stopped!" Kensuke shouted as his suit suddenly died. "Huh?"

"They did tell you about the five-minute battery for that thing, right?" Shinji asked as he walked up to the powered-down suit. "Or were you looking at the pretty guns when they mentioned it?"

"Uh... yeah." Kensuke groaned.

_Good thing Ritsuko didn't have the chance to put that new arc reactor into the armor for the initial testing_. Shinji thought as he grabbed the armor and drug it back to base.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMAKE 5

"So... tell me again why you let Asuka keep those things?" Shinji asked as Misato ducked again.

"Hey, I didn't think she'd actually use an arc reactor to power them!" Misato shouted. "My armor's not gonna hold up too much longer here!"

"Neither is mine!" Shinji shouted.

Outside, Asuka laughed as she held Iron Man and War Machine in her cluthes.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What do you think of Super Dominatrix Asuka Now?" she shouted as she tugged on the energy whips again.

"I swear, Misato, if we get out of this, I'm gonna..."

"Not now, Shinji! Not Now!"


	5. It's Hammer Time!

_**IRON IKARI  
**_by Gunman

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Iron Man 2 or their characters.

Summery: Shinji, Tony and Rhodey use their armored suits to take on a small army of Hammer Drones even as Vanko readies himself for a show down with Stark himself. And Mari helps out too.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Chapter 5  
**It's Hammer Time **

(Stark Enterprises Corporate HQ. South Warehouse)

"How's the chest piece feel?" Shinji asked as, backing away from his boss once the new Ununoctium triangle that was inserted into his chest.

The energy from the new element glowed brightly and practically exploded in a glittering flare of light.

"Good. Really Good! Like... tastes like coconut... and metal. Oh Wow!" Tony groaned as the newly implanted mini-reactor pulsed throughout his body.

(_Hey, Shinji, I think he likes it._) HOMER said.

"Good." Shinji said as he noticed his assistant off to the side going through all of Howard Stark's notes and information. "Mari-chan? What are you doing?" Shinji asked, walking over to her.

"Just going over the notes and stuff that those SHIELD guys left. Pretty interesting stuff." Mari said, looking at the blueprints and notes for the original Arc Reactor, taking note that Anton Vanko's name was at the bottom, next to Howard Stark's own name.

Behind her the microfilm had been running, playing the clips of Howard Stark making his recorded video logs of the Stark Expo. These were obviously the cut scenes, the ones with the bloopers and questionable content in them. He was a tall man with short brown hair and a mustache, dressed in a basic dark suit and tie, and looked as every bit the talented inventor that Tony remembered.

"But we've already figured everything out." Tony said, his body slowly starting to deluminate.

"I know, but I just thought that..." she paused, a serious voice getting her attention.

("_Tony!_") the voice of Howard Stark said, getting the trio's attention. ("_You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put this on film for you. I built this for you_.") Howard Stark said, standing in front of the Expo model that Shinji had gotten the Ununoctium formula from. ("_And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This, is the key to the future_.") the image shifted briefly from Howard Stark to the model, showing certain bits of it, like the Unisphere and even a model of the Arc Reactor. ("_I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be, my greatest creation... is you_.")

The film ended, and the trio (not counting HOMER) just watched as the film finally stopped playing.

"Thanks, dad." Tony said with a semi-sad smile.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"I still don't know about this, Shinji-kun." Mari said.

"Mari-chan, trust me, it's going to fit." Shinji said.

"But it's just so hard and it feels uncomfortable."

"I know. This thing wasn't built for your specific body."

"I think something's pushing into me where it shouldn't be."

"Okay, let me get behind you and I'll use the screwdriver to open up your back plate."

From behind the modified control panel, Tony Stark rose up and just stared back at his technical assistant and his assistant's assistant, whom he believed was making a variety of sexual innuendos. He was mildly disappointed to see that Mari was wearing his rebuilt Mark V suitcase armor and Shinji was working to make it fit and function.

His disappointment was rooted in the fact that his assistant was in the perfect position to get himself some much deserved action, from his assistant who obviously liked him. After hearing about his past life, Tony was well aware of the fact that honest and genuine affection would do wonders for the young man.

Of course, having been denied that sort of thing for most of his life, and considering the people he had associated with at NERV, Shinji was most likely afraid to get close to anyone. Though there seemed to be some degree of hope in the fact that Mari and Shinji were actually smiling and working so close to each other.

"How does that feel?" Shinji asked.

"Better. At least nothing's poking me in the butt." Mari said. _Yet_, she thought hopefully.

"Well, if we had time I'd get you a better suit of armor." he said.

"And why do I need to wear this? You and Mr Stark should be able to handle this on your own. Especially if Colonel Rhodes will be there as well."

"A good inventor always has a back-up plan."

"So I'm a back-up plan?" she asked mirthfully.

"You're extra insurance to make sure that innocent people don't get hurt if this thing goes sour."

"Which it probably will." she stated.

"Exactly."

"HOMER? How's the Mark-6 coming?" Tony asked the AI.

(_I just finished painting it_.) The advanced AI said as the suit of armor appeared on the main computer screen. The gold and red armor with the upside-down triangle-shaped arc reactor in the chest.

"Nice." Tony said with a smile. "And what about the Mark-3?"

(_See for yourself_.) HOMER said as it brought up the image for the rebuilt and modified Mark-3 armor, which was now red and silver, instead of the usual gold.

"Wasn't the Mark-3 painted red and gold?"

(_Yes, sir. But Shinji thought a slightly different color scheme would make it less troublesome to identify the both of you_.)

Tony chuckled at that. "I think having two or three Iron Men there, despite the color difference, will cause more than enough trouble for people. Are the new reactors ready?"

(_They are_.) HOMER said as one of the nearby machines opened it's chest to reveal two functioning mini-arc reactors.

"Excellent. Shinji! Mari! You two ready?" Tony shouted.

"I'm ready! Mari-chan?" Shinji asked, turning to his assistant.

"Yes, Shinji-kun. I'm ready." Mari said with a smile.

"Alright then. Let's suit up!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(Stark Expo. Flushing, New York)

Justin Hammer was just about finished with his presentation.

Behind him on the grand stage were four groups of 15-armored battle drones, each one representing the four branches of the American military forces: Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

On the front of the stage, decked out in the heavily modified and weaponized Mark II armored suit was Colonel James Rhodes. The suits most distinguishing feature was the six-barreled minigun that was on his back.

"For America and it's allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for-" Justin Hammer said, only to be interrupted as a loud, thundering roar of rocket engines was heard overhead.

It grew louder as suddenly, three figures broke through the night sky and flew right up to the stage. The first to land was a red and gold armored figure whom everyone easily identified as Iron Man, the only real noticeable difference was the glowing upside-down triangle in the middle of his chest. The second figure was red and silver, a glowing circle in his chest, standing off to the left of Iron Man. The third figure was colored similarly to the second one, though the armor was clearly sleeker and looked exactly like the Mark V suit that Shinji had worn in Monaco.

Naturally, seeing _three_ Iron Men just flying in and landing right in front of Colonel Rhodes and Justin Hammer caused everyone to stand up, applaud and cheer. Loudly.

"We Got Trouble!" Tony said as he and his two partners walked up and stood on both sides of Colonel Rhodes.

"Tony, There Are Civilians Present. I'm Here On Orders, Let's Not Do This Right Now." Rhodes said as Tony stood on his left, Shinji and Mari on his right.

"Give Em A Wave!" Tony said, the four armored people waving towards the crowd.

"Yeah, Alright!" Justin Hammer called out, cheering with the crowd. "We got the Iron Man! The War Machine! The Steel Centurion! And Iron Boy!" Justin quickly called out, coming up with the names on the tip of his tongue.

"Iron _Boy_?" Mari gasped at hearing what she had been called. "Did He Just Call Me 'Boy'?"

"He Can't Tell There's A Woman In That Suit." Shinji stated to her.

"At Least You Got A Cool Name." Mari huffed.

"All These People Are In Danger. We Gotta Get Them Out Of Here. You Gotta Trust Me For The Next Five Minutes." Tony said to Rhodey.

"Yeah, I Tried That And I Got Tossed Around Your House, Remember?" Rhodey replied.

"Then Will You Trust Me, Colonel?" Shinji asked, standing on War Machine's right, with Mari to his right.

"Shinji?" Rhodes gasped in shock. Though he really shouldn't have been surprised.

"Hammer's Working With Vanko." Shinji said.

"Vanko's Alive?" Rhodes asked, truly shocked at hearing that.

"Worse, He's Got Something Majorly Bad Planned For Mr Stark. For All Of Us." Mari spoke up.

"Mari?" Rhodes gasped, now truly shocked.

"Yup. The Gang's All Here." Tony said as he suddenly walked towards Justin Hammer.

"What Do You Mean 'Bad'? Define 'Bad'!" Rhodes asked.

"Best Guess: He's Going To Use The Hammer Drones To Take Out Mr. Stark." Shinji said.

"Where's Vanko?" Iron Man asked Hammer.

"What?" Justine Hammer asked.

"Where Is He?" Iron Man demanded.

"What are you doing here, Man?" Hammer asked in slight panic.

Suddenly, War Machine's armor and guns twitched, the armor locking up and the mini-gun moving on it's own.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! What's Going On?" Rhodes gasped in shock.

"Is That You?" Tony asked, noticing the minigun pointed at him.

"No That's Not Me! I'm Not Doing This!" Rhodes shouted.

"It's Vanko!" Shinji shouted, himself and Mari backing up from the dark and silver armored man.

"I Can't Move! I'm Locked Up! I'm Locked Up!" Rhodey shouted.

Behind them, the rest of the Hammer Drones sprang to life, their weapons coming on-line and aimed right at the Iron Man with the upside-down triangle on his chest.

"Get Out Of Here! Go! This Whole Systems Been Compromised!"

Iron Man sprang from the stage, hovering in mid-air.

"Let's Take This Outside!" Tony shouted as Iron Man shot into the air as War Machine and the Drone opened fire on the armored hero, shattering the glass skylight overhead and causing it to rain down upon the fleeing audience.

"Shinji-Kun! What Do We Do?" Mari asked.

Suddenly, War Machine and the Air Force Drones ignited their boosters.

"No! No!" Rhodey shouted as he took off into the air, immediately chasing down the red and gold armored man.

Suddenly, the other drones came to life and started moving towards the front of the stage.

"We Need To Keep These Drones From Getting Into The Park!" Shinji shouted.

"Right! I'll Take The Marines, You Take The Army!" Mari shouted.

"Got It!"

The Army, Navy, and Marine Drones quickly came to life and started moving towards the front of the stage, towards the audience.

"Let's Do This!" Shinji shouted as he and Mari opened fire with their repulsors, knocking down several of the drone in an instant, even as the others continued to advance.

"On Your Right!" Mari shouted as she shot down one of the Drones.

"I See Them!" Shinji replied as he blasted the Army Drones that got close to him.

"Come On, Tin Man, Show Me What You Got!" Mari shouted as she leapt up and punched down the Marine Drone.

"Don't Let Them Get Off The Stage!" Shinji shouted, blasting another Drone.

"Look Out!" Mari shouted as the Navy Drones moved up.

Equipt with more rockets than the other Drones, The Navy opened fire with their shoulder-mounted rockets at the pair, blasting them full frontal and knocking them into the empty rows of audience seating. However, before the rockets struck, Shinji had thrown himself in front of Mari, taking the brunt of the assault.

"Oh... That Hurt!" Mari groaned.

"Tell Me About It." Shinji groaned.

"Are You Alright?" Mari asked, struggling to get up and check him for injuries.

"Kinda. The Front Part Of My Chest Is Cracked. Magnetic Energy Field I Added Barely Blocked All Those Rockets!" Shinji explained.

"The Drones Are Gone!" Mari shouted.

"I Know. Boss? How Are You Doing?" Shinji asked through his communicator.

(_Kinda Busy Right Now, Kid! Rhodey And The Air Force Are Trying To Kill Me_!) Tony shouted.

(_It's No Picnic For Me Either, Tony! Coming Up On Your Six_!) Rhodes replied.

(_I Got It_!) Tony shouted back.

"We Gotta Stop Those Other Drones!" Shinji shouted as he got back up to his feet.

"Are You Sure?" Mari asked.

"Yeah!"

"Alright, Then, Let's Go." Mari said as the pair stood up and ignited their rockets. "I Still Don't Like This!"

"You're Getting The Hang Of It, Right?" Shinji asked.

"I Had A Choice?" Mari asked.

"I Told You I Needed You On This."

"Because You Trust Me!"

"YES!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

One of the Army Drones that had been targetting Iron Man paused when they noticed a young boy wearing an Iron Man mask.

Because it was simplistically programmed to attack Iron Man, it's recognition software caused it to turn on the boy with it's cannon like gun mounted on it's back.

Suddenly, a red and silver armored Iron Man flew in and landed right next to the boy.

The Drone turned and aimed at the larger Iron Man, who lifted his hand up and blasted the Drone in its chest with a forceful repulsor blast.

The kid looked up as the red and silver Iron Man looked down at him.

"Nice Work, Kid!" Shinji said as he blasted off into the sky.

"Whoa." the kid gasped.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Mari was flying back towards the Unisphere in an attempt to intercept the flying Air Force Drones. Shinji had momentarily stopped off to stop an Army Drone that was about to waste a kid wearing an Iron Man mask, and told her to go on.

She saw Iron Man flying past one of the observation towers, with Rhodey and the Air Force hot on his heels. She was about to intercept them, when she noticed a barrage of Navy Drones rockets launch from the ground and slam into the observation tower. The explosions caused massive damage to the towers, and caused several people to fall from them.

"Damn It!" Mari shouted as she turned towards them.

Two people, a man and a woman, who had been clutching the edge of the blown out window, had lost their grip and plummeted towards the ground.

Halfway down, they were caught by a pair of metallic gauntlets and lifted back up into the air, back towards the tower they had come from.

"Are You Alright?" Mari asked.

"Yes. Now." the man said.

"Thank you for rescuing us." the woman said.

"You're Welcome!" Mari said as she turned around and jumped back out the window, her rockets igniting and flying away.

The man and woman just looked at each other for a moment.

"Was that a girl's voice?" the woman asked.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Shinji noticed a small pack of Air Force Drones that had split off from the main group that was pursuing Stark, and quickly moved to intercept them.

"Looking For Iron Man, Boys?" Shinji shouted as he flew towards the five drones, blasting two of them with his hand repulsors.

The other three turned their guns and missiles on him, firing at the red and silver hero, who charged his Chest RT and opened fire, right as he was struck by the missiles. The RT-blast struck the three drones, hitting the one in the middle and causing the blast to extend out to the other two. However, when Shinji was struck by the missiles, he was knocked into the Oracle Sphere.

The sphere itself was an enclosed, lavish, Japanese-style garden that was complemented by a small running river, red arched bridge, finely manicured trees and brush, perfectly placed rocks, and a red archway at the far end.

Shinji slammed into the hill near the bridge and groaned as he did came to a stop.

"Wow. That Hurt." he groaned as he looked around before hearing a crash and the roar of rockets. Getting up, Shinji quickly saw Iron Man and War Machine grappling furiously in the middle of the shallow river in the middle of the garden. The black and silver armored man seemed intent on killing the red and gold hero, despite that it wasn't him.

Shinji quickly flew in and blasted the pair apart before tackling Rhodey.

"Argh!" Rhodes shouted.

"Sorry About This, Sir!" Shinji shouted as he wrestled with Rhodey.

"Forget It! Stop Me! STOP ME!" Rhodes shouted as his armor tried to crush, hit, punch, and shoot Shinji.

"Shinji, Hang On!" Tony shouted as he flew in and grabbed Rhodes from behind.

"Trying To, Sir!" Shinji shouted, trying to keep the minigun from blowing his head off.

The three armored men continued to tussle, rolling over and over in the shallow river until both Tony and Shinji managed to wrestle him down onto his back. Tony had his left side, while Shinji had his right side, as well as the minigun that was still firing wildly as Shinji held it away from his body.

Suddenly... the War Machine shut down. The minigun stopped firing, the armor stopped moving, the lights in the helmet stopped glowing.

"Oh. Am I Too Late?" Mari asked, suddenly arriving at the battle site.

"What The..." Shinji gasped as a small video screen came up inside the Iron Men's helmets.

A familiar redhead appearing on their screens.

(_Reboot complete. You got your best friend back_.) Natasha said

"Thank You Very Much, Agent Romanoff." Tony said.

(_Well done on the new chest piece. I'm reading significantly higher output and your vitals all look promising_.)

"Yes, Thanks To Shinji, For The Moment I'm Not Dying." Tony responded.

(_What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you were dying_?) Pepper Potts said, coming up on a second view screen.

"Pepper Is That You? Uh, No, I'm Not. Not Anymore." Tony replied.

(_What's going on_?) Pepper asked.

"I Was Going To Tell You. I Didn't Want To Alarm You."

(_You were gonna tell me? You really are dying_?)

"Yes, I Was, Not Anymore."

(_Why didn't you tell me that_?) Pepper shouted.

"I Was Drunk And Not In The Right State Of Mind!" Tony shouted back.

(_Hey, hey! Save it for the honeymoon! You got incoming, Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you_.) Natasha said, interrupting their argument.

"Right. Good Thing I'm Not Alone. Pepper?" Tony shouted out.

(_Are you okay now_?) she asked.

"I'm Fine. Don't Be Mad. I Will Formally Apologize..."

(_I am mad_!) Pepper shot back.

"...When I Am Not Fending Off A Hammeroid Attack!"

(_Fine_.)

"We Could Have Been In Venice." Tony smirked.

(_Oh please_!) Pepper scoffed.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Rhodes blinked his eyes open as his systems and video HUD came back up. The first thing he saw was Tony's exposed face, his armored faceplate up, looking down at him.

Just behind Tony he saw Shinji and Mari, both their face plates up.

"Rhodey? Snap out of it, buddy, I need you! They're coming. Come on, let's roll. Get up." Tony said as he snapped Rhodes face plate up.

The armors faceplate snapped up, flooding Rhodey's vision with natural light. He groaned as he stared at Tony directly.

"Oh... you can have your suit back." Rhodes groaned as Tony helped him up.

Looking around Rhodes saw Tony, Shinji and Mari standing around him.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, thanks. Tony, look, I'm sorry, okay?" Rhodes said.

"Don't be." Tony dismissed his apology.

"I should have trusted you more."

"I'm the one who put you in this position. Forget it."

"No. It's your fault. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear. Partner." Tony said with a smirk.

"They're coming in high and hot. What do we do?" Shinji asked.

"Well, we wanna take the high ground so let's put our biggest gun up on that ridge." Rhodes said.

"Got you. Where do you wanna be?" Tony asked as the pair started towards the ridge.

"Where are you going?" Rhodes asked him.

"What're you talking about?" Tony responded.

"I meant me." Rhodes said, pointing to himself.

"No, you have a big gun. You are not _the_ big gun." Tony exclaimed.

"Tony, don't be jealous."

"No, I like it, it's subtle, all the bells and whistles."

"Yeah. It's called being a badass."

"Fine." Tony said. "Okay, you get up top, up there, I'll draw them in."

"Wait, don't stay down here."

"Why not?"

"This is the worst place to be."

"Okay you got a spot. Where's mine?"

"It's the kill box, Tony. It's where you go to die."

While the pair were arguing, Shinji and Mari were looking at each other.

"Do you think they realize that we're here too?" Mari asked.

"They won't until the drones get here." Shinji said.

Suddenly, the roar of several rocket engines caught their attention, as several different looking drones landed all around them.

"Oh..." Tony started.

"...shit!" Rhodey finished.

One-by-one the drones assembled around them. Army drones, Navy drones, Marine drones.

"Guess we should be glad you and Mr Stark eliminated the Air Force Drones." Mari said.

"But how many more are we facing here?" Shinji asked.

"Counting... 35 Drones!" Mari said, her visor flipped down to get a radar check.

"Really, didn't need to know that." Rhodes said as Shinji pulled his face plate down.

"So... what? 8.75 for each of us." Tony said, flipping his face plate down.

"Sounds Fair." Shinji said.

"Iron Man, Ready!" Tony said.

"War Machine, Ready!" Rhodey said.

"Centurion, Ready!" Shinji said.

"Rescue, Ready!" Mari said.

The trio turned to look at her.

"Rescue?" Centurion asked.

"Sounds Better Than 'Iron Girl'." Rescue said.

"Not Really." Iron Man said.

The Drones fully assembled. The quartet of armored heroes standing back-to-back.

The fight was on.

Iron Man lashed out with his arms, repulsor beams firing to his left and right, taking down an Army and Navy Drone. A Marine Drone attacked from behind, causing him to spin around and punch it hard in the head and chest. An Army Drone charged him from the side, but was taken down by a fierce kick to the stomach, then a pile-driving strike from Iron Man's elbow and then a punch that caved in its chest. He opened his left arm, a small salvo of mini-missiles flew out and destroying three more Drones, of the Army, Navy and Marines.

War Machine opened up with all barrels, his minigun on his back and the two high-velocity machine guns that were attached to his arms. Bullets cut through the thick armor of the drones that attacked him. Marines and Army fell before him as the Navy tried to take him from behind. He grabbed the Navy Drone and tossed it into an oncoming Marine, riveting both with bullets before resuming his attack on the others.

Centurion leapt into the air, kicking down a Navy Drone as a Marine Drone came in and tried to slash him. He blasted the Marine with a repulsor blast as an Army Drone attacked. Centurion grabbed the Army Drone by the arm and spun it around, tossing it into a pair of Marine Drones, and blasting them with his repulsors. A Navy Drone opened fire on him, but he quickly ducked, the rockets striking an Army Drone behind him. He blasted the Navy Drone with his repulsor, before turning to punch, kick, and cave-in the Marine Drone that was coming up from behind.

Rescue opened up with her repulsors, trying to stay as far back and next to Centurion as possible. Her armor wasn't as strong as the others, so she did what she could. To her left and right she opened up with repulsor blast after repulsor blast, each strike hitting one of the drones. Because her armor wasn't as powerful as the others she had to use both hands to take out a single Drone.

The fight was almost over, but the remaining Drones quickly moved in to overwhelm them in a face-to-face, hand-to-hand fight.

Seeing this, Centurion made the call.

"EVERYONE! GET DOWN!" Centurion shouted as his wrist gauntlets opened up.

Iron Man, War Machine and Rescue dropped to the ground as laser beams exploded out the top of Centurion's fists, the technical assistant spinning around and cutting down each Drone that he saw.

The lasers stopped firing, as every last Drone was sliced to pieces, crashing to the ground in nothing more than pieces of scrap.

The three armored heroes stood up to assesses when Shinji had done.

"Huh. Nice. I Think You Should Lead With That Next Time." War Machine said.

"Yeah, Me Too." Iron Man said.

"Sorry, Boss. I Can Only Use It Once. It's A One-Off." Centurion said, the laser components then popping off his fists.

"Why Do You Have That And I Don't?" Rescue asked.

"Because I Didn't Have Time To Equip Your Suit. Next Modification, I Promise." Centurion said.

"I'll Hold You To That." Rescue replied, tapping him lightly in the arm.

Suddenly, a call from Agent Romanoff came in.

(_You got one more drone incoming, guys! This one looks different. Repulsor output is significantly higher_.) Natasha said.

The quartet looked back and saw a heavily armored figure break through the skyline, landing hard only a few meters away from them. It stood up straight, as it's helmet suddenly pulled back to reveal a pilot.

Ivan Vanko.

"Good to be back." the ex-Russian physicist said.

"Oh, This Ain't Gonna Be Good." War Machine said, right before Vanko unfurled his glowing, high-energy whips from both his arms.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Authors Notes:

Been wanting to update this for a while now. Been unsure how to go from this point. Mostly since the whole Drone battle was a complicated issue.

And yes, I actually added more drones to this story than the movie had. Mostly because I was using both Shinji and Mari to back up Tony and Rhodey. And yes I know that in the movie, Rhodes was a Lieutenant Colonel, but some times referred to as just 'Colonel'. So I just made him a Colonel.

Next Chapter: Team Iron vs Vanko, and he's got another surprise for the group.


End file.
